Forms of Presence Between States
This project explores how human presence can persist in a reality where stable identities and coherent images are no longer possible. Through painting, material traces and fragmented figures, the works reflect a condition of being between stability and transformation, distance and closeness, silence and tension. Abstract figures and even portraits of specific individuals are composed of fragments, ornaments, stains and materials and resemble traces more than traditional portraits. These traces show how human presence can continue to exist even when the structures that once supported it begin to dissolve.
In his project, Volodymyr Gulich explores human presence within a condition of uncertainty that can be described as limbo — a state between established definitions and emerging possibilities. In this context, limbo is understood not as stagnation or the absence of movement, but as a field of potential where new forms of coexistence may arise. Through painting, material traces and fragmented figures, the artist works with the image of presence as a process of becoming. Abstract compositions and portrait-like forms are constructed from ornaments, stains and layered materials, appearing more as traces or energetic configurations than as completed forms. Within the project, limbo can be interpreted as an artistic analogy to quantum uncertainty — a situation in which reality has not yet been fully determined. Human presence reveals itself as the ability to remain open to change and to endure instability while maintaining sensitivity to the surrounding world. This position is essential to the artist’s practice and shapes the future development of the project. Conceived as an open process, the work is intended to evolve during an artistic residency in Zaporizhzhia — a city where experiences of tension, uncertainty and resilience gain a direct existential dimension. The project does not offer ready solutions. Instead, it creates a space where different states may coexist while remaining open to what is yet to come.
Forms of Presence Between States at Zeppel Inn