Hooks-Epstein Galleries will present "Turning Toward the Light" from Houston-based artist Lydia Bodnar-Balahutrak, an exhibition of mixed media compositions on paper, canvas, and wood panel. The exhibition will mark Bodnar-Balahutrak’s first solo show with the gallery.

The artworks in "Turning Toward the Light" are Bodnar-Balahutrak’s visual meditations and represent a multi-layered documentation of the current war in Ukraine against Russia. The exhibition is a tribute to Ukraine’s fight for freedom, and each artwork is meant to elicit a turning toward the light, away from darkness, to evoke pathos, express wonder, and perpetuate a discourse about one’s place in the world.

Cultural/societal/political issues are filtered through her frames of reference as a visual artist and Ukrainian American, born and raised in the U.S.A., and a child of World War II refugees from Ukraine. Probing her own cultural ties and collective memory, Bodnar-Balahutrak strives to bear witness to crucial historic events that touch the common core of all humanity.

The exhibition will remain on display through February 15.