"I Hope Your Family is Safe” is my comeback home during the full-scale Russo-Ukrainian war. It documents the everyday lives and experiences of my family and friends during Ukraine's fight for freedom and independence. The project emerged from the question asked by many people abroad - “Is your family safe?”, which I didn’t know how to reply to, so I went to Ukraine in search of a visual response.

This body of work aims to look into the complexity of the contemporary life of Ukraine and its people. The coexistence of life and death, creation and destruction, civil and military life, hope and pain, and how those circumstances shape the ongoing process of decolonization. It offers a perspective alternative to the simplified and victimized image of Ukrainians often produced by and unquestionably accepted in the West. Through my project, I aim to contribute a piece to the mosaic of Ukrainian identity, our own vision of Ukraine and ourselves, the one that reflects our bravery, vulnerability, beauty, rebellion, stubbornness, and desire to be free.

Originating from a genuine concern for the well-being of my loved ones, the project became a way of a deeper self-reflection. Set against the backdrop of the ongoing war, my homecoming evoked childhood memories and emotions connected to the place where I grew up and the people living there. It also became an exploration of my feelings when being in Ukraine and the idea of safety associated with home, which in reality is often a place that contains a lot of pain.