Eugenia Brodsky: Chrysanthemum

Eugenia Brodsky: Chrysanthemum by Elliott LinwoodMay 19, 2026

Before the white chrysanthemum
the scissors hesitate a moment
— Yosa Buson

This poem touched me with a simple truth: even death pauses before the beauty of life. It made me realize what stops time for me—my children, the most fragile and tender beauty I know. Through them, childhood became in my mind, a fleeting flower that one day will be cut. My eldest son is eleven, standing between boyhood and adolescence. Sometimes I see in his eyes a soft adult sadness—the first quiet touch of growing up.

I remember my own childhood light—not just illumination, but a living companion that guided me. Its gradual departure leaves a trace of melancholy, yet returns when the soul is ready. This project is about childhood as a home of light, and about the first steps away from it—that delicate moment when innocence begins to shift and time holds its breath.

Eugenia Brodsky is a photographic and multimedia artist who was born and educated in Ukraine, where her work and development absorbed the beauty and poetic mysticism that she attributes to her homeland. During the beginning onslaught of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, she was forced to relocate with her family to California, where she continues her professional practice.

She has remained active as a photographer, publishing series in international fashion publications, while discovering the curation of exhibitions as a new expressive dimension to her projects. In recent years, she organized and curated of an exhibition at Bread & Salt Gallery in San Diego, presenting progressive Ukrainian artists. In collaboration with the CityX Foundation, she presented an exhibition of analog paintings reinterpreted in NFT format in New York City.

Documentary, portraiture and editorial threads of storytelling run through Brodsky’s work in intimate and cinematic ways. For instance, shimmering qualities of light depicted in the imagery of her current body of work, Chrysanthemum, shift from the background to the foreground as a full-fledged character, that delivers symbolic, personal and actual power. In fact, it is the lightness and sadness that she measures in this series—through the process of revealing her sons’ transition from boyhood to adolescence—which she says reminds her of own childhood experiences when a constant presence of light functioned as a source of solace, companion and friend.

Could you introduce yourself? Where you are from, where do you work?

My name is Eugenia Brodsky, I was born and raised in Kyiv, Ukraine. At the moment, I am based in San Diego, California. I don’t have a permanent position or a fixed place of work. Instead, life has given me the opportunity to move between different projects that genuinely resonate with me. I’m drawn to collaborations where I can feel a sense of multi-directional growth, curiosity, and inspiration, and where my practice can continue to expand rather than settle into a single form.

In what medium or media do you work (e.g., photography, video, performance, etc.)?

I work across different branches of audiovisual art, which allows me to express my creative nature in a multidimensional way. My primary focus is photography and curatorial practice. I also work with video as a director and editor, and with sound as a composer and performer.

Describe your practice (e.g., is it conceptual, curatorial, interdisciplinary, etc.?).

In my work, I try to convey to the viewer what emerges from my own experiences—shaped by events in the world, deep personal memories, and sometimes even mystical impressions. I translate these feelings across photography, video, and sound, and weave them together in the creation of exhibitions.

Do you identify as an artist?

I see myself as an artist in everyday moments, whether I’m behind a camera or simply in the kitchen.

When did you get started?

I don’t remember a specific starting point, creativity has always been part of who I am, naturally unfolding in my life.

What kind of training, formal or informal if any, have you received?

I received formal training in video directing, where I met incredibly talented people. This experience became a second major influence on my artistic vision, almost like a performance stretched through time, composed of a series of events and encounters that had a profound impact on my development as an artist. It included acting in theater and film, writing scripts, and working with video as a director and editor.

During this period, I began working in commercial video production, collaborating with specialists from different countries. These projects were intense, short, and highly focused, providing a professional push where my creative talent combined with the ability to concentrate and achieve very specific results. I was able to engage with many creative minds, which deeply enriched my practice.

In what directions have your projects evolved over time?

For a time, my work leaned more towards commercial projects, but over time I began to notice the lyrical undercurrent within me, which made me want to bring it to the forefront of my practice.

Where would you like your practice to go?

Through the flow of my life experience, I have noticed interesting patterns. Life repeatedly offers me unexpected and meaningful paths that help my ideas move into the world. I see this not as coincidence but as a form of dialogue between my inner nature and the surrounding reality. I believe that belonging to the divine nature of love and light grants a person creative ability. When this energy flows freely through the body, it naturally creates situations where this essence can be expressed. My practice follows this flow. I trust it to lead me toward deeper sincerity, greater responsibility, and forms of work that resonate not only visually but also energetically and emotionally.

In what fields, and by whom, are you influenced, directly and indirectly, and why?

Visually I have always been drawn to the rhythms and atmospheres of Italian and French New Wave and Italian Neorealist cinema, from Godard to Antonioni. In photography I feel the presence of 1990s fashion photographers such as Mario Sorrenti, Glen Luchford, Nick Knight, and Juergen Teller. I am also inspired by the sensibilities of designers and collections like YSL, Comme de Garçons, Helmut Lang, and Martin Margiela. But I don’t think I’m making these kinds of visual images, although I like these artists and their work. Even when I want to do something that is similar to these kinds of work, it works out in different ways in my own practice.

What types of investigations, methods and subject matter does your work explore?

Nature is often present in my work, calm and gently melancholic. My images carry a rhythm, flowing through space without a beginning or an end. I explore emotional states and inner experiences, expressed through rhythm, imagery, and the poetic qualities of fashion photography. In the exhibitions I curate, I also combine sound with visuals to convey ideas as completely as possible across all of our senses.

Within what contexts does your work exist (print, digital, virtual, social media, etc.)?

My work exists in a variety of contexts. Many of my series are presented digitally in contemporary online magazines, while some have been printed in physical publications. My commercial projects have appeared on billboards and storefronts, and a large portion of my work can also be found on social media.

Has this shifted over time, in terms of circulation, communication and production values?

At the moment, this has not shifted significantly for me. The main change is that since moving to the United States, I have begun presenting my work more often through photographic prints.

How do these considerations impact what, how and why you make what you do?

This has influenced how I see my work in relation to actual prints. As a result, I have become more attentive to the lyrical and poetic aspects of my practice and more aware of which images can be experienced as physical works.

Within which communities do you identify?

I feel closest to artists who work from a deep inner place, allowing personal experience and reflection to become their most honest form of expression.

What audiences do you have in mind when producing work?

I have sensitive audiences in mind—people who are open to feeling and reflection as an inner kind of resonance.

Does this shift once a series or body of work is completed?

Yes. Sometimes I anticipate a response from a certain audience, but I end up receiving stronger and more meaningful feedback from entirely different people. I find it interesting to observe this process, and I don’t try to control how or on whom the work has an impact. I allow the work to exist independently and to find its own viewers.

How long do your projects usually take?

At the moment, my photography projects usually take about two to three months for me to work through and produce a coherent series. Exhibition projects take longer. For example, one took nearly two years, but only because we needed to transform analog physical works into an NFT format, creating “living” digital pieces with sound.

Do you physically or virtually show your work (e.g., in New York, San Diego, etc.)?

I have exhibited photographic prints in group shows in San Diego, and Kyiv through my membership in the National Union of Photographers of Ukraine. As a curator, I have also brought together works for exhibitions in San Diego and New York, presenting them in physical form.

What is the cultural landscape like in which you function (e.g., commercial galleries, academic institutions, non-profit organizations, social media platforms, etc.)?

I primarily operate within professional circles, even when using social media. Most of my interactions and feedback come from people connected to the audiovisual arts.

What level of visual literacy and art historical knowledge would you say is useful in understanding or appreciating your work?

I believe that a human heart is enough to truly feel and appreciate my work.

Do contemporary or generational considerations factor into these evaluations?

Some of my work may feel more familiar to people of my generation, but many pieces are timeless and can connect with viewers of any age. I see this in the feedback that I receive at exhibitions, which comes from a diverse audience in terms of age and perspective.

Is there linkage between world and local politics, or pop culture within your work?

Yes, absolutely. Pop culture and the global art scene have deeply influenced my worldview and the way I perceive the world.

Within what contexts do you wish for your work to be circulated?

Lately, as I have been producing more prints, I have really enjoyed seeing my work in physical form. I would love to fully explore this phase of my practice and have the chance to show my work in both solo and group exhibitions in galleries.

What would you ask an interviewer?

The earth, is it flat or round?

Tags: Adolescence, Childhood, Elliott Linwood, Eugenia Brodsky, Family, Fashion, Homeland, Melancholy, Memory, Mysticism, Performance, Ukraine