This summer, FAINA unveils Drevo (Ukrainian for “tree”) — a new collection by architect, designer, and artist Victoria Yakusha. Presented from June 26 to July 10 at the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York, the series reflects on memory, femininity, and cultural resilience through objects of lasting presence. Discover more.
Design Inspired by the Tree of Life — Drevo Zhyttia
The collection takes its name from the Tree of Life — Drevo zhyttia — one of the most profound and enduring symbols in Ukrainian culture. Found in embroidery, woodwork, ceramics, and traditional wall painting, it represents the structure of the universe: the link between earth and sky, past and future, human and divine. Its roots run deep in the soil; its branches reach toward the heavens — a symbol of continuity, renewal, and spiritual unity. In folk tradition, it also signified the family line and the transmission of knowledge across generations.
In this collection, nearly every panel features the Tree of Life. These motifs are not decorative; they once served a vital role. Young women painted them onto the clay walls of their homes — above windows, near ovens, by doorways — as acts of protection and care. They enlivened their surroundings, drawing symbols to shield the home and pass down strength, meaning, and beauty. These were more than ornaments. They were spiritual gestures — a language of love, rooted in the everyday.
Ukrainian Culture’s Reverence for Life
The patterns in Drevo are sourced from archival ethnographic records, specifically from the Podillia region. The region’s symbolic richness and clarity drew Yakusha’s attention: flowers represent vitality and protection, and birds carry spirit and memory. But the Tree—always the Tree—remained central. Its recurrence speaks to a culture’s reverence for life and the desire to protect what matters most.
What has changed in Drevo is not the ornament, but the material. Yakusha chose an enduring, contemporary material — stainless steel — and engraved each motif into its surface. This transformation gives the drawings permanence. They are preserved — carried forward into the future.
Drevo – a Symbol of Life, Wisdom, and Grounding
Drevo consists of eighteen panels that can be installed individually or in larger wall compositions, adapting to contemporary interiors while holding the weight of ancestral memory. Each panel bears a traditional Ukrainian woman’s name — a gesture that honors the young women who once painted these symbols by hand. Through naming, Yakusha reconnects each work with the personal lineage of this folk knowledge, keeping their stories alive.
The name Drevo reflects the essence of the collection — a symbol of life, wisdom, and grounding. Like the Tree of Life, these works stretch between generations, bridging the old and the new, the handmade and the modern.
Victoria Yakusha Opens “DREVO” at the Ukrainian Institute of America
On June 25, FAINA opened its newest collection, DREVO, with a special evening at the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York. The installation, on view through July 10, marks the U.S. debut of the series by Ukrainian architect, designer, and artist Victoria Yakusha.
Presented across eighteen engraved steel panels, DREVO reflects on ancestral knowledge, the role of women in folk traditions, and the symbolic power of the Tree of Life — a recurring motif in Ukrainian visual culture. Yakusha brings these symbols from clay walls into stainless steel, layering past and present in a contemporary language of form and material.
The name DREVO — Ukrainian for “tree” — draws from Drevo zhyttia, the Tree of Life, one of the most enduring symbols in Ukrainian culture. Traditionally found in embroidery, ceramics, and domestic murals, the Tree of Life was a spiritual and protective symbol. Young women painted these forms onto the clay walls of their homes — above windows, near ovens, by doorways — as everyday gestures of care, hope, and continuity. In Yakusha’s collection, the original motifs have been sourced from ethnographic archives from the Podillia region and reimagined through precise engraving into stainless steel.
Each panel in the collection bears a traditional Ukrainian woman’s name — a tribute to the legacy of folk knowledge passed down through generations. DREVO is designed to be modular: the panels can be displayed individually or in larger compositions, adapting to contemporary interiors while holding the weight of ancestral memory.
Memory in the Material: Design Across Cultures
The opening evening included a panel discussion, Memory in the Material: Design Across Cultures, moderated by Wallpaper’s U.S. Editor Anna Fixsen. The conversation brought together four distinct voices in contemporary design: Victoria Yakusha (FAINA), Jean Lin (Colony), Cristina Grajales (Cristina Grajales Gallery), and Stefano Giussani (Lissoni Architecture New York).
The discussion explored how memory, identity, and cultural context inform design on a material level — shaping how objects look, and how they feel and function in space. Panelists reflected on the role of storytelling in their practices, the emotional power of materials, and how cultural heritage can be translated into contemporary forms. From Yakusha’s engraved steel panels rooted in Ukrainian folk traditions to Grajales’ long-term collaboration with Hechizoo in Colombia to Lin’s meditations on objects as vessels for memory, the discussion traced a wide yet deeply personal spectrum of design as cultural expression.
Drevo is on view at the Ukrainian Institute of America through July 10, 2025.
This exhibition and event were made possible with the support of the Ukrainian Institute of America, Nova Ukraine, and the BILOKIN Initiative.
Cover Photo by Anastasiia Makarchuk
FAINA / Victoria Yakusha Press
For more design & travel inspiration, you are welcome to follow Archi-living.com on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, and discover these related articles.
