Echoes of Home

Lee-based artist Irina Borisova created a collage of her loved ones at her home in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city that is known for its cultural and artistic history. Borisova was a puppeteer, animator, production designer, and chief artist at the Kharkiv Puppet Theater, but after moving to the United States, she continued to pursue her passion for ceramics, illustration, animation, and design. Her drawing Echoes of Home (2025) is part of the Norman Rockwell Museum’s exhibition American Stories: Revolution to Rockwell. This touching piece was created during the ongoing war in Ukraine, which has scattered her and her family across Ukraine, England, and the United States. The artwork uses muted colors to convey the grief and tenderness of the destruction of her hometown, and weaves together family photographs and architectural fragments to evoke the fragile pages of a family album. The center of the drawing are portraits of her as well as her mother, Asya, and her twin sister, Olga. Alongside the subjects are family memories for Borisova to reflect upon; behind them is the cityscape of Kharkiv, its balconies and stairs floating and contorted, conveying personal and public loss. Even amid displacement and destruction, the memories reflected in this piece remain a force ofconnectionacrossadistance.nrm.org — Jaclynn Kastrinakis