Transplanted

Transplanted explores displacement and belonging through marigolds grown from seeds brought from Ukraine and collected in Britain. Following their life cycle, the project reflects on memory, adaptation, loss, and the fragile process of putting down roots.

Transplanted is a photographic project based on my experience of displacement from Ukraine to the United Kingdom. It began when my mother brought me marigold seeds from Ukraine. I planted them together with seeds collected in Britain and started photographing their growth.

Marigolds, or chornobryvtsi, are very familiar flowers in Ukraine. They grow in gardens, near houses and along the roads. They remind me of home, my childhood and the places I had to leave because of the war. Growing them in Britain became a way of keeping something familiar close to me.

I followed the plants through their entire life cycle, from seeds and small seedlings to flowering, drying and collecting seeds again. Some grew well, others struggled or died. I moved them between pots and the garden, tried to save the ones that were suffering and watched how they responded to a new environment.

While working on the project, I started noticing similarities between the plants and my own experience. When you move to another country, you have to adjust to a different environment, language and way of life. You can build a new home, but it doesn't mean you stop missing the old one.

The project combines photographs of the plants, self-portraits, staged images and small botanical compositions. I use my body, flowers, soil and other materials to explore the relationship between a person and the place where they live. Some images are direct observations, while others are more experimental, allowing me to express feelings that are difficult to describe.

I am interested in what happens after being uprooted. Whether we can fully belong somewhere else, what we carry from our previous lives, and how much of ourselves changes in the process.

The marigolds grown from Ukrainian and British seeds now share the same soil. Looking at them, it is impossible to tell which came from where.