Sunflower Variations
This is Ukraine
A composition in 27 parts
The Artist Book
In 1995, on the fifth anniversary of Ukraine’s independence, the Ukrainian government published Tse Ukraina | This is Ukraine. This glossy coffee-table book served as a declaration: Ukraine was no longer the gateway to an empire; it was a sovereign nation.
Tse Ukraina offers a snapshot of Ukraine as it was in 1995. Sunflower Variations seeks to update this narrative, capturing Ukraine today, 11 years into an unprovoked war. The project highlights Ukraine’s fight—not only to protect the freedom it has long struggled for, but also to prevent itself from slipping back into the despotic grasp of its past.
The book’s construction and format are intentionally reminiscent of Soviet-era art books, but with a twist. The USSR produced lavishly printed historical art books that served as propaganda, glorifying the past through the lens of Soviet reconstruction. Sunflowers Variations subverts this tradition.
The drum-leaf binding, for example, subtly references a common flaw with Soviet-era books: their cracked spines, a result of poor-quality materials. Using tipped-in photographs evokes the style of these books while simultaneously voicing a rebuke—this is a book that could have never existed under the Soviet regime.
The sculptural cover can be read as abstraction of two surprisingly similar forms: a sunflower and a bomb crater. This duality reflects the paradox Ukrainians face today—hoping for a future of peace while living with their present devastation.
Sunflower Variations—this is Ukraine
Соняшникові Варіації—це Україна
8½” x 11” (11” x 17” when open)
70 pages, including end-leaves
Edition of 10
Clamshell Box
Drum leaf binding with a German case and sculptural cover
35 Risograph printed pages of text
27 6½” x 9½” tipped-in color photographs
2 full-leaf letterpress printed maps
1 fold-out photomontage
Book printed on Somerset Book paper
Letterpress pages printed at Tor View Press on a Vandercook SP-15
Risograph pages printed at The Center for Book Arts on a RISO MH9450
Essays and Book by KS Lack
Clamshell Case by Ana Paula Cordeiro
Photographs by Konrad Will
Photographs printed on Asuka washi paper at the Center for Photography Woodstock
Frames created by KS Lack and Introspective Collective
In this iteration, Introspective Collective consists of Ana Paula Cordeiro, Aurora De Armendi, Thomas Gallagher, Sarah Nicholls and Konrad Will
Book is typeset in Kabel and Fermata, a new calligraphic typeface inspired by humanist serif typefaces from the 16th century, created by Taimur Hyat
Contact KS Lack for further information
100% the proceeds from these books will be donated to
Razom for Ukraine