From the Artist | After February 24, 2022, the words “How are you?” for every Ukrainian became not just a form of politeness but filled with profound meaning. What was once a neutral and even cool phrase now embodies empathy, warmth, and care. In the early days of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, millions of messages overloaded server metal wires with the same text: “How are you?”, ‘how are you?’
The Ukrainian gallery Panoptikum Collections presents the mirror-torcher HAY (How Are You), designed by Kharkiv native Andriy Khvorostyanov. Despite the cold metallic appearance, the mirror-torcher embodies empathy, care, and warmth, expressed by the three short words – “How Are You?” – at the onset of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Like a metal framework, these words framed the light of tenderness and love with strength, faith, and unwavering determination. The designer dedicated this object to his loved one.
“The object ‘How Are You?’ is about her, about sensitivity, about silent dialogue, about sincerity that leaves room for mystery. It’s about vulnerability that gives superpowers, about flexibility and confident strength, about something complex yet precious to me,” comments Khvorostyanov.
The object is intricately woven from aluminum wire by hand, with an embedded mirror and LED lamp radiating light inside the framework, making the piece more intimate, resembling internal experiences without overt emotions.
“Creating such an object is as meticulous as building sincere relationships between people,” says Roman Mykhailov, Sales Partner at Panoptikum Collections. “Experiencing the trials of fate with his loved one, the designer transformed reflections into a material object that gives light and allows introspection when you are alone, to see your own reflection, your state, and the inner light of love and care.”
Photography by Serhii Savchenko.
Andriy Khvorostyanov graduated from the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts (2007) with a specialization in industrial design (workshop of I.V. Ostapenko) and a master’s degree at KhDADM (2007-2008). Andriy Khvorostyanov is a participant in Ukrainian and international exhibitions and competitions.
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