Oksana Kami studied art history at Lviv National Academy of Art (Ukraine) After graduating with an MA, she pursued photography.
Within five years after settling in Chicago, IL, she went through a transformation which finally lead her to art photography as a field where she could share what she felt.
Whether it has a vibe of a surreal parallel world or of quiet introspection, her work is meant to make people feel each micro-moment.
In addition to art photography Oksana Kami is a poet and graphic artist. She presented her poetry and graphic art in a personal exhibition in Lviv, Ukraine in 2006, entitled "In Search of the Fifth Element." Oksana took part in a number of other art exhibitions with her images and as an art critic from 2001 to 2010. A hardcover collection of her poetry titled, "Being," was published in 2013 featuring her graphic art along with her writing.
Oksana incorporates esoteric themes into her photography work. Through her work, she tries to convey the idea that time is not linear. In a world where all moments exist simultaneously, one can change her past as well as her future. This multidimensional world allows us to visit the world of our dreams or to face our worst fears.
By sharing her main message about searching for the purpose of life, her intention is to motivate people to realize all possibilities to find everything they're looking for.
"In our fast-paced world, we do not always notice the obvious ... for example, beyond darkness – there is always light, that within sadness there is joy, and happiness resides in sorrow. The world is full of duality, and I really want to be honest in my work and share that concept with the viewer - To represent things as they truly are. I, like most people, cannot claim to be wholly in the light, but I know for sure that we all carry that Spirit, which helps us remember who we are. Through my work I try to remember myself, to display the world ... not a world that is limited in scope, but a world ins 360 degrees that is constantly in motion and changing all the time, a world which, I see outside of my body – where I feel such incredible harmony that it becomes indescribable . My task, despite the pain and suffering that happens to each of us, is to remember this feeling of harmony and learn to channel in it here and now. Transformations never happen easily, sometimes, in the middle of it you feel like an absolutely non-essential being that lives in the surreal dream of some kind of absolute, whose level of consciousness we could never reach, but our own internal knowledge and feelings can help us find own way and shine. At least a little. At least sometimes. At least somewhere. And perhaps for someone…"
Oksana Kami
“Looking and seeing are two different things.” - Christophe Agou. Oksana Kami’s photography is not just a document referencing a stopped moment in time, it's like a frame from a movie; looking at it helps you understand the plot and you see much more than just the likeness on the page. Artistic experiments with technique, collage, and material lead the artist into a multi-disciplinary zone, which explores not just the visual, but also the environment, our sensation, and irrationality that we see around us. It seems that these works conduct a dialogue with modern philosophy and raise psychological, sociological, religious, and esoteric questions. Composition, color, angle and form- it goes without saying that these things are important, but they are not the central point. These are more just convenient tools, through which the artist guides the viewer through his own visual conception, focusing on form and details. The tools the artist uses in her work – collage and photoshop – are only means to experiment more widely in finding new senses of conceptual photography. Today in the era of mass visual content - society is saturated with images and is in search of real reflection. And in order to understand contemporary art, one should look for it not only in aesthetics. This is precisely why these artist’s conceptual works will be understood only by those who share her viewpoint and feel emotions similar to hers. This mirror, reflecting the inner world of the artist allows you to look, if only episodically, capturing these moments, leaving the viewer pondering. Truly, the the main message of the images in this display can guide us to enhance our knowledge, senses and emotions. Photography has almost a hypnotic character, it reveals something that is not visible, but lies beyond our conscious perceptions and interpretations in an infinite space. This exposition is an amazing journey that brings the subject of contemplation into a completely different aesthetic plane."
Kateryna Hai, art critic, Lviv Fashion week co-organizer, gallerist at ST.H Gallery
"Today, we have the opportunity to dive deep into a unique world, a world presented by its author through the prism of her camera lens, and through which she has truly invited us into the depths of her soul. This exceptional world, created through the use of photo-montage, endlessly reproduces that which cannot be repeated in terms of its existentialism, and entices the viewer to reflect on the essence of being, and the place and the role of each of us in an ever-changing universe. The author does not simply try to capture a moment; she seeks to affix the instant without declaring anything, without claiming anything, only sharing with the viewer, sharing compassion and rejoicing with him. The main subjects of her works are people, in which each of us can find a piece of ourselves. Clearly, the artist deliberately avoids emphasizing portraiture, representing a person as a source of light, springing forward limitless ideas, the center of which are good and evil ... At the heart of these compositions lies the principle of contrasting visible outer darkness and demonstrative inner light. The author’s deeply meaningful and convincingly truthful main appeal, portrays the soul’s attempts to escape beyond everything that constrains it as it attempt to fly. Sometimes autobiographical, sometimes even audaciously frank, her work is so impressive that at certain moments of contemplation one feels the need to escape from this world, but not for the sake of seeing or thinking of anything in order to return again anew. Thank you to the author for this courageous attempt to scrape away at the outer surface of things, for her directness, as well as her ambiguity, and I sincerely invite everyone to experience the deep symbolism of her work for themselves."
Ksenia Rozhak-Lytvynenko, art critic, PhD