Means to No End is a collaboration between Ukrainian Vlad Krasnoshchok and Russian Olga Starostina. Even though their countries are currently at war this exhibition is proof that art removes all borders and boundaries.

Since mixed media artist Krasnoshchok is also a successful photographer, photography is always one of the main components of his work. Starostina is also a jeweler who works primarily with recycled aluminum adds her metalsmithing skills to the equation. It is the beauty of the surface which emerges when molten aluminum is poured which fascinates her.

The two artists met during the FotoFest 2012 biennial which focused on contemporary Russian photography and begun their collaboration. The main part of this collaboration grew out of Vladyslav’s series “Negatives are Stored” which is based on old cabinet portraits from the beginning of the 20th century. He buys these portraits at flea markets in Kharkov and alters them in order to revive them, giving them new meaning and life. In her part of the collaboration, Starostina took altered cabinet portraits and put them into multidimensional structures, thus adding another level of interpretation for those photographs. With this dimensionality, Olga conveys the dual nature and complexity of human desires, dreams and memories, resulting in the series Means to No End.

Following the opening reception, the exhibit will be on display through August 15.