Eruption (Signed 50copies)

Description

Limited Edition 50 copies signed, and I stuck 5 soldier bugs onto the cover of the book by hand; each book is unique!

Eruption (2025) is a pseudo-documentary project consisting of 40,000 hand-crafted
red-winged bugs (known as soldier bugs in Ukraine and gendarmes in France), installed
across three contexts — a room, the human body, and food. The insect invasion serves as
an allegory for the Russian occupation of Ukrainian territories, reflecting the gradual
takeover of safe spaces, the human body, and everyday life, revealing vulnerability, fear, and
destruction.

The project Eruption consists of 40,000 red-winged bugs, hand-sculpted and hand-painted,
installed in three distinct contexts: a living room, the human body, and food.
These insects, commonly known in Ukraine as soldier bug or fire-bug, are referred to in
France as gendarmes.
The project unfolds in three parts: Eruption, Penetration, and Absorption.
In the first part, Eruption, Olia creates an installation in a Kyiv apartment. The invasion of
tens of thousands of bugs into a private space becomes a metaphor for the Russian
invasion, reflecting the occupation of Ukrainian peaceful territories. Here, a previously safe
and protected space becomes uninhabitable as it is occupied by bugs. Step by step, she
documents the details of apartments covered with a thick layer of insects.
The second part, Penetration, focuses on the human body. The body loses its autonomy and
is forcibly turned into a home for the “others”
. At the center is the image of a pregnant
woman in a forest, which becomes the culmination of the story: the bugs penetrate inside,
embodying a deep sense of vulnerability, fear, and the destruction of the body.
The final part, Absorption, shows the bugs on food – a final gesture of total takeover. Their
presence is now ubiquitous and inescapable.
Each part is accompanied by a “witness” commentary, making the story
pseudo-documentary.

Olia Koval (b.2001) is an Ukrainian lens-based artist working with photography, installation
and video. She combines analog photography with handmade objects, documenting both
installations and fragments of everyday life.
In 2019 graduated from school of conceptual photography MYPH.
In 2024 graduated from the Faculty of Cinematography at the KNUTKiT.
Shortlist CO Berlin Talent Award 2025.