

OHII KATYA
MORULA, 2022
​
solo show
CURATED BY
STEFANIA PLAZA MORA
AT PIANO ZERO
​
Site-specific installation, including sculptures,
live performance balia,
video and sound.
​
​
Click here to listen to the sound
​
​
​
​
​
​
author ohii katya
SOUND DESIGN
MICHELE PAPA
DIRECTOR OF BALIA
FINN O’HANLON
1st ASSISTAND DIRECTOR
GABRIELLA TRULLI
​
PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS:
OLEKSANDR RADOMSKYI
STEFANIA PLAZA MORA
TILDE KAY SNYDER
DAMIANO TATA
NIKA VARLAMOVA
FLAMINIA MAURA
FUNDED AND SUPPORTED BY
OLEKSANDER RADOMSKYI
AND STEFANIA PLAZA MORA

Morula is one of the early stages of gestation which pertains to most living creatures. The term, morula, derives from the Latin morus (mulberry) because of the cells' clustered structure.
Each organism undergoes a series of metamorphoses during its life cycle, returning to its origin in the end, dying, and being reborn as something new.
​
Ohii's site-specific installation is a dark dive into instinctive desire and intense, even violent processes of metamorphosis.
In her first solo exhibition at the off-site temporary space Piano Zero, an ex-carpentry workshop, and grocery store, Katya Ohii explores the themes of transformation of an entity, linked to the ancient symbol of the Right-hand and Left-hand Path.
​
BALIA (performance), took place during Ohii Katya’s solo show MORULA, 2022, PH Patrizio Gentile
​
MORULA occupied 64 square meters of space in total.
It consisted of eleven sculptural objects, one massive wooden structure, splashing out to the corridor, sound installation, video, and live performance balia.​
​
The exhibition path is circular.
The first room is filled with hybrid creatures in the process of formation.
they are fetuses in the gestation phase with both artificial and organic features, uncanny and attractive at the same time.
Here we find soft, nocturnal lighting to symbolize the darkness before birth.
​
Then, we move forward to the massive 20-square-meter wooden structure—the installation MORULA that embodies the Path of the Right and Left hands, a fork between internal moral choices.
The fallen branches for MORULA were taken from three different forests in Rome and covered with caramel, which was constantly melting and transforming during the exhibition, accompanied by the sound design by Michele Papa, which was specially created for the MORULA installation.
​
​At the end of the exposition, we meet the Mother—BALIA—the personification of the return to the origin.
The soft sculpture, made of metal wires, styrofoam rolls, and IV fluid solution bags filled with soy milk, was a central object and hosted the performer inside its body.
​
This performance, which took place during the week of the exhibition, resulted in a short film in collaboration with Australian artist and director Finn O’Hanlon.
The video work and performance BALIA acts to summarize the main conceptual essence of the exhibition. This work depicts the borderline state of an entity going through a metamorphosis, an intense and dangerous experience that causes the rapid evolution of consciousness.
​
Text by Stefania Plaza Mora

BALIA (video still), directed by finn o'hanlon


BALIA (performance), took place during Ohii Katya’s solo show MORULA, 2022, PH Patrizio Gentile

BALIA (soft sculpture), 2022, IV fluid solution bags, soy milk, styrofoam rolls, metal wire, red light, PH Danielle Allegritti

BALIA (performance), took place during Ohii Katya’s solo show MORULA, 2022, PH Tilde Kay Snyder

MORULA (installation), 2022, branches, cork, burned sugar, metal wire, fabric, LED lights, 425x776x377 cm, PH Patrizio Gentile

BALIA (video still), directed by finn o'hanlon

BALIA (video still), directed by finn o'hanlon

BALIA (performance), took place during Ohii Katya’s solo show MORULA, 2022, PH Tilde Kay Snyder

BALIA (performance), took place during Ohii Katya’s solo show MORULA, 2022, PH Patrizio Gentile

BALIA (performance), took place during Ohii Katya’s solo show MORULA, 2022, PH Tilde Kay Snyder


BALIA (performance), took place during Ohii Katya’s solo show MORULA, 2022, PH Tilde Kay Snyder

BALIA (performance), took place during Ohii Katya’s solo show MORULA, 2022, PH Patrizio Gentile



MORULA (installation), 2022, branches, cork, burned sugar, metal wire, fabric, LED lights, 425x776x377 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi
THE PET (sculpture, installation view), 2022, spine, carbonized sugar, metal wire, 50x35x20 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi

MORULA (installation), 2022, branches, cork, burned sugar, metal wire, fabric, LED lights, 425x776x377 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti

MORULA (installation), 2022, branches, cork, burned sugar, metal wire, fabric, LED lights, 425x776x377 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi

VOYEUR (sculpture), 2021, metal armature, epoxy resin, pigment, plastic, lacquer, rope, 70x140x85 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti

VOYEUR (sculpture), 2021, metal armature, epoxy resin, pigment, plastic, lacquer, rope, 70x140x85 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti


VOYEUR (sculpture), 2021, metal armature, epoxy resin, pigment, plastic, lacquer, rope, 70x140x85 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti

VOYEUR (sculpture), 2021, metal armature, epoxy resin, pigment, plastic, lacquer, rope, 70x140x85 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti

KOLYSKA (sculpture, detail), 2022, beeswax, latex tubes, resin, tree root, dried flower, wooden dust, 50x55x67 cm, PH Patrizio Gentile

KOLYSKA (sculpture, detail), 2022, beeswax, latex tubes, resin, tree root, dried flower, wooden dust, 50x55x67 cm, PH Patrizio Gentile

THE PET (sculpture, installation view), 2022, spine, carbonized sugar, metal wire, 50x35x20 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi

MORULA (installation), 2022, branches, cork, burned sugar, metal wire, fabric, LED lights, 425x776x377 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti

MORULA (installation), 2022, branches, cork, burned sugar, metal wire, fabric, LED lights, 425x776x377 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti

SANGUE DEL DRAGO (sculpture), 2022, tree root, burned sugar, 45x150x110cm,
PH Oleksandr Radomskyi

SANGUE DEL DRAGO (sculpture), 2022, tree root, burned sugar, 45x150x110cm,
PH Oleksandr Radomskyi

LA MORTE (sculpture), 2022, , silicone, pigments, glass spheres, papier-mâché, palm tree, wooden dust, bones, metal wire, epoxy glue, 65x50x100 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi

LA MORTE (sculpture), 2022, , silicone, pigments, glass spheres, papier-mâché, palm tree, wooden dust, bones, metal wire, epoxy glue, 65x50x100 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi

IL NUTRIMENTO (sculpture), 2022, , silicone, pigments, glass spheres, papier-mâché, palm tree, wooden dust, bones, metal wire, epoxy glue, 50x45x105 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi

IL NUTRIMENTO (sculpture), 2022, , silicone, pigments, glass spheres, papier-mâché, palm tree, wooden dust, bones, metal wire, epoxy glue, 50x45x105 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi

MORULA (installation, corridor), 2022, branches, metal wire, LED lights, 350x155x377 cm,
PH Oleksandr Radomskyi

MORULA (installation, corridor), 2022, branches, metal wire, LED lights, 350x155x377 cm,
PH Oleksandr Radomskyi

KOLYSKA III (sculpture), 2022, beeswax, liquid latex, latex tubes, machine oil, engine, tree branch, wooden dust, variable dimensions, PH Daniele Allegritti

KOLYSKA III (sculpture), 2022, beeswax, liquid latex, latex tubes, machine oil, engine, tree branch, wooden dust, variable dimensions, PH Daniele Allegritti

KOLYSKA (sculpture, detail), 2022, beeswax, latex tubes, resin, tree root, dried flower, wooden dust, 50x55x67 cm, PH Patrizio Gentile

KOLYSKA II (sculpture), 2022, silicone, pigments, latex tubes, latex elastic band, resin, lacquer, tree branch, wooden dust, 65x90x35 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi

KOLYSKA II (sculpture), 2022, silicone, pigments, latex tubes, latex elastic band, resin, lacquer, tree branch, wooden dust, 65x90x35 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi

PUPPY (sculpture), 2022, resin, latex tubes, black pigment, lacquer, wooden dust, 20x10x16 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti

KOLYSKA (sculpture, detail), 2022, beeswax, latex tubes, resin, tree root, dried flower, wooden dust, 50x55x67 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti

KOLYSKA II (sculpture), 2022, silicone, pigments, latex tubes, latex elastic band, resin, lacquer, tree branch, wooden dust, 65x90x35 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi

KOLYSKA II (sculpture), 2022, silicone, pigments, latex tubes, latex elastic band, resin, lacquer, tree branch, wooden dust, 65x90x35 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi

MORULA (installation), 2022, branches, cork, burned sugar, metal wire, fabric, LED lights, 425x776x377 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti

MORULA (installation), 2022, branches, cork, burned sugar, metal wire, fabric, LED lights, 425x776x377 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti

IL RISVEGLIO (sculpture), 2022, , silicone, pigments, glass spheres, papier-mâché, palm tree, wooden dust, bones, metal wire, epoxy glue, 55x20x25 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti

SANGUE DEL DRAGO I (sculpture), 2022, roots, burned sugar, metal chain, variable dimensions, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi
Copyright © 2022 Ohii Katya. All rights reserved.

SANGUE DEL DRAGO I (sculpture), 2022, roots, burned sugar, metal chain, variable dimensions, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi