Berlin-based multidisciplinary artist working with text, participatory performance, web-based choreography, interactive installation, and figurative practice. Born in Ukraine, and having lived in the USA before Germany, they speak three languages somewhat well, and two more as a learner. Their mother-tongue is early-90s eastern-european economic anxiety.
They are currently working on completing "Foreign Body" (working title), a collection of short stories populated by decent neighbors, well-meaning coworkers, feathered robots, and sites of abject irrepressible disaster. Set in an alternate-reality post-Soviet landscape in the near future, littered with poorly-maintained but astounding technologies, the collection asks what kind of neighborhoods we've engineered ourselves into.
Lecture performance & reading:
Some of my work:
Published in 2024 in SAND Journal Issue 27
We had originally started dating because it was comfortable, and because we had so many things in common, especially the fact that, in times of stress, the skin around our fingernails would first become red and taut and tender, and then erupt in clusters of tiny blisters.
It was a Friday night, and this weekend was the last weekend we would have to ourselves before the cat joined us for a few months. It’s possible I was supposed to pick something up on my way from work, like juice, or a liver. We were planning to watch a documentary about a cult that my wife had been wanting to show me; she had found it exceptionally strange. It really was a comfortable relationship. It was good to be with someone for a change who understood that organ meat was rich in collagen; to spend our time showing one another things we had already seen. The cult documentary didn’t strike me as all that strange, though; they all seemed like sensible enough people that just got a bit too wrapped up in things, which happens. Did she really think us two were beyond all that?
So the cat arrived in the apartment. It was a friend’s cat; the friend was going to South America; the cat was staying with us. My wife wanted to know what the cat liked to eat, no, not the regular dry food, but for a treat, what does he like as a tasty little morsel, how can I spoil him? I don’t know, replied the friend, I guess he likes chicken hearts.
Next week there were thirty frozen chicken hearts in the tiny fridge in our tiny apartment, and the bed was now primarily occupied by my wife and the cat. Chunks of hair and stains from cat vomit soon textured every surface. The cat was old and vomited at least once per day. My wife kept a list of the dates and times it happened. What are you going to do with that list? I asked. I just want the cat to feel better, she explained, I want him to have a good time here.
She did try once to give him one of the chicken hearts; it was defrosted but still cold. The cat sniffed at it uncertainly, once licking it, and flinching back as the whole thing rolled off the tiny saucer onto the carpeted floor. Why didn’t you cut it up? I raised my voice. Back then I liked to think I was the sort of person who would never raise his voice, but there was this fucking raw chicken heart, right on the fucking floor. My wife said, well, it wouldn’t be cut up in the wild. In the wild, the cats tear creatures apart with their claws, and really it’s a lot less work already, the heart is already removed. I said, in the wild, there’s no fucking carpet. The cat had placed his attention well elsewhere by this point, and the heart went into the garbage.
The winter did eventually end, and our friend came back from South America and collected the cat, politely declining the offer to keep the handwritten list with all the times that the cat had ever vomited in our presence. The sun was once again more visible, but the times of stress persisted. The blistered skin around our nails started to lift them up from their sockets, creating a kind of claw. My wife had thrown the list of the dates and times that the cat had vomited into the trash, but I fished it out, and kept it up, adding to it the dates and times of our fights.
In the summer, my work took me to Japan for several months, and I took the list with me, just in case our phone calls would become difficult. The time difference between us meant that we were never quite on the same wavelength, and I had to buy a new notebook to keep the list up. I just wanted us to feel better. I wanted us to have a good time together.
A month or so into my stay in Japan, I met Lily. Lily liked liver and had a secret night job as a luthier, repairing illegal violins. Far from blistered hands, hers were delicate, smooth, symmetrical, an altogether different kind of claw. When I went home, she didn’t come with me, of course she had never even considered it, but I departed a changed man, my hands almost free of their creeping pox.
My wife saw it right away, just as I walked through the door. I can’t believe, she said, that you’d be over there, having an amazing time with some exciting new person, while I am here, mopping up chicken heart juice! It turned out that, during my absence, the power had gone out, and the twenty-nine remaining chicken hearts defrosted, and all that pink sludge leaked beneath the linoleum floor, and it was the summer, so it must have smelled horrendous. I asked her why she never mentioned it on a call, and she told me she didn’t want to make the calls difficult.
My wife came close enough that I could see the blistered skin of her hands having crawled all the way up to the elbows, and I could see how the red tender tightness around the palm made her fingers curl inward, unable to straighten. She was asking me, “Are you even sorry?” And I wasn’t sorry at all, she had gotten those chicken hearts herself. I hadn’t unpacked yet anyway, so I turned around to leave, and, looking down, I saw her toes had now become claws, too.
Performed (voice-triggered variant) in 2026 at offline.place
This is an interactive work that recombines the texts of emails, all sent shortly around the start of a new semester, to all students of a Berlin-based higher education institution. Try it here.
Welcome! We are delighted to have you join us. He is homeless, drunk and aggressive. We believe he has left the campus after we removed him, but he was threatening to return. Extra security was requested for the evening, but if you are here after business hours and see him on campus, please call the police and provide them with the description above. In today’s complex world, stepping outside of our own information bubbles can be both enlightening and empowering. Should you have any questions, concerns, or uncertainties, please do not hesitate to reach out to me or a member of my team. We fully understand your worries. We are aware that many of you may feel compelled to exercise your right to free speech and participate in public demonstrations. Free speech and peaceful protest are fundamental democratic rights, and we support your engagement. However, we kindly urge all students to ensure that such activities are conducted strictly within the framework of German law. If you see a man in his mid-40s to mid-50s, short to average height, buzzed hair, wearing a blue vest with torn shoes, DO NOT APPROACH HIM. By choosing to study in Germany, you all commit to adhering to its legal system and its particularities. Therefore, it is essential to be informed about the relevant laws, especially as they pertain to residence status and public demonstrations. I would like to clarify some misunderstandings since I received multiple messages from people about my previous message, this message was sent out because we had a situation yesterday where a homeless person came into our cafeteria unnoticed.. The documents are just for your information, of which the content not condoned. Staying informed about local developments can offer not only practical and local insights but also valuable perspectives beyond your usual information sources. We are here to support you and will do our utmost to assist you. Warm regards. Welcome back to campus! I hope your summer was both restful and inspiring. We look forward to a new academic year filled with unbound curiosity, academic achievements, and opportunities to grow and thrive as a community. Thank you for continuing to shape and strengthen this university that is such a vibrant place to learn and work at. We cannot wait to see the energy, perspectives, and talents you will bring to our shared journey. This is not a test. In light of recent reports concerning the potential deportation of international students in Germany, we want to acknowledge the concern and uncertainty this may cause. To assist you in navigating this, we have compiled a few useful resources which can be found below and attached. We also encourage you to engage with German news outlets and media from time to time. Regarding security-related concerns, such as suspicious behavior or unauthorized visitors, remember: If you see something, say something. Be aware of your surroundings! Good day everyone, We would like to remind everyone to be cautious of your surroundings, in this case the people who come into the building with you. Please be mindful, that it can cause issues if we are not careful and unrecognize the people around us and let them in our facilities. If you come into the building as a group of people inside the campus, check around you if you know each of one of your friends, otherwise someone might be easily infiltrating and easily access the school premises. Thank you for cooperating and taking safety precautions. Dear everyone, Hope you are having a wonderful start of the day! I apologize for not clarifying this clearer yesterday and I hope no one got the wrong impression. So, for everyone’s safety wanted to alert people about this so our students and staff are safe and aware of this happening. If you see someone matching this description, notify the Central Office immediately. If you are unsure if the moment is an emergency, but see him, please call our security team. Thank you and stay alert.
Last Updated May 2026.