Born in a country that no longer exists

Sophie Winch talks to artist Oli Gots about her Phoenix Cinema exhibition

Flyer for Unrooted exhibition by Oli Gots at Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley

Artist Oli Gots is displaying her work at the Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley this month, with a focus on the themes of displacement and lost culture.

Ukrainian-born, Gots spent much of her childhood between Bulgaria and Ukraine. In her early adulthood, though, she settled in Sofia. “I didn’t bring up Ukraine at all,” she tells Barnet Post, “except on passports”.

Her cultural identity is “never simple”; having moved to England with her husband, it spans three countries; one of which, for her, has vanished. She describes herself as being “born in a country that no longer exists”.

Gots’ work in unrooted: part one centres around this theme of displacement; she uses flowers “taken out of context”, wilted and dying, a fading memory of the fields they once thrived in.

This takes the form of scanned images printed on fabric, or solar prints on cyanotype paper. These are often accompanied by printed pieces of text, describing her molecular childhood memories, and the loss of their settings.

Gots previously displayed her work at Dom na kinoto, Sofia, in June and July of this year, with pieces she says had a more “Bulgarian focus”, and allowed for a tactile experience, with elements to unfold and touch.

This London exhibition is the second presentation; Gots has a cultural connection to both cities.

She plans to integrate text and audio into future presentations of unrooted and further its interactivity; Gots is interested in getting audiences to actively engage with her themes – of dislocation, and dismantling the perceived cultural homogeneity of the USSR’s legacy.

‘unrooted: part one’ is on display at Phoenix Cinema until 4th October

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