FANTASYLAND is a site-specific mixed media installation that explores the rise and fall of a fantastical empire and its uncertain future. Using a variety of mediums and objects, such as giant plush toys, inflatable beach balls, deconstructed and re-assembled mannequins, an unfinished carousel structure, recycled parachute canopies, wallpaper, a glowing neon sign, and performance videos, I underscore American society’s surplus of objects, brutally intoxicating consumerism, and unbridled desire for material possessions that form an ironic, ultimate beacon and capitalist symbol of freedom. In this work, I investigate the American Dream through an immigrant lens, exposing a desirable yet unattainable mirage.
Review in Artillery Magazine
Preview in Whitehot Magazine
Interview in Cultbytes
Interview in Art Spiel
Interview in Mission Magazine
Interview in Friend of the Artist
Fantasyland, 2021, found objects, plywood, vintage hand dyed parachutes, enamel, plaster, acrylic, chicken wire, wigs, hoola hoops, yarn, canvas, mannequins, fabric, beach balls, toys, video. Presented at Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY, Photos Walter Wlodarczyk and Etienne Frossard, courtesy Smack Mellon.
Becoming American, 2020, 2 mins, filmed at The Potato Farm Project: EFA North Fork Residency, Jamesport, NY
Fantasyland: Becoming American, 2021, 40 mins. Sound: Sarah Martin-Nuss. Dancer: Lilach Orenstein. Smack Mellon. Photos: Walter Wlodarczyk.
Katya Grokhovsky, Becoming American, 2021. 5 min excerpt. Smack Mellon, NYC.Performer, concept: Katya Grokhovsky. Dancer: Lilach Orenstein. Sound: Sarah Martin-Nuss.
Fantasyland: Paradise Lost, 2021. 8 hrs, 20 min performances. Concept and installation: Katya Grokhovsky. Sound: Sarah Martin-Nuss. Dancer: Rebecca Pristoop Photos: Walter Wlodarczyk Presented as part of Six Foot Platform by THE DUMBO IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BROOKLYN ARTS COUNCIL. Paradise Lost is a site-specific mixed-media sculptural installation and performative activation, which explores the failing state of the American Dream, deflated promises and tainted optimism of a land of opportunity, through the immigrant lenz. Created from several pre-owned, hand dyed and embroidered vintage parachute canopies, the installation is intermittently activated throughout the day by a dancer, accompanied by sound composition. Through objects, gesture, movement, sound and text, Paradise Lost investigates the artist's journey towards becoming a permanent resident in the U.S and being separated and isolated from her family for several years.
Katya Grokhovsky, Paradise Lost, 2021, 14:48 mins. Performer: Rebecca Pristoop. Sound: Sarah Martin-Nuss. Presented as part of Six Foot Platform by THE DUMBO IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BROOKLYN ARTS COUNCIL.
FANTASYLAND is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council.