In Prisoners, Pavlo Fyshar transforms the ordinary into symbols of quiet entrapment. Using mirrors, pillows, and soft fabrics, they create dreamlike scenes where pastel tones veil an undercurrent of irony and unease.

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Figures appear fragmented or obscured, caught between reality and illusion, reflecting the subtle ways we confine ourselves through routines, expectations, and doubt. Fyshar's surreal aesthetic softens the weight of isolation while sharpening its resonance, revealing how invisible boundaries shape our inner lives. With a delicate tension between comfort and constraint, Prisoners invites viewers to reflect on where freedom ends and quiet captivity begins.

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Pavlo Fyshar: The Prisoners series explores the feeling of being trapped — not always by walls, but by everyday life, personal doubts, and invisible boundaries. The photographs use mirrors, pillows, soft fabrics, and pastel colours to create a quiet, surreal atmosphere in which ordinary objects become symbols of limitation.

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The Prisoners series explores the feeling of being trapped — not always by walls, but by everyday life, personal doubts, and invisible boundaries.

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The people in these images appear suspended between reality and illusion. Their bodies are hidden, fragmented, or distorted, reflecting how we sometimes lose ourselves in routines, roles, or expectations. The soft tones contrast with the deeper, slightly absurd, and ironic message about inner isolation.

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About
Born in 1990 in Shostka, Ukraine, the artist's early fascination with researching and collecting insects continues to influence their work. Their introduction to photography was gradual, beginning with macro images of flowers and landscapes, taken on a small soapbox Canon camera. Later, they moved towards portraiture, often photographing young women with freckles. More recent work features butterflies, beetles, mirrors, and pastel colours, created in Kyiv between May and October 2022, following the outbreak of war.

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