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In my project, I study the lived experiences of Ukrainian defenders and the temporalities of war as they manifest in individual recovery paths. Through interviews and interdisciplinary workshops with veterans and those in active duty, I investigate healing and reconstructive processes, their rhythms and ruptures. The workshops take place in hospitals at varying distances from the frontline, revealing the infrastructure of destruction, exhaustion, and recovery.

I foreground a methodological framework in contrast to the problem of representation, proposing a lens-from-within that refracts individual experience through group dynamics among defenders after combat or injury.

The research unfolds through interviews, an introductory lecture, and a practical workshop, forming a transitional space that moves between silence and laughter, denial and attentive observation, avoidance and active co-presence – a counterpoint to trauma. As an artist, I facilitate and hold this experimental space.

Experience surfaces in gestures, laughter, small actions, and visual expression during the work. This method outlines relational presence as a structure for co-reflection of multiple experiences, where micro-transitions open potential for action. I will share interview quotes, participants’ sketches and collages, and moments of change captured in a video work.

Rooted in my own experience of trauma and peer-to-peer support, this research explores how experience reveals itself through inner movement and temporality rather than outward appearance. My aim is to offer new perspectives on how artistic practice can support healing and recovery in contexts of war.