From home, back to home

Artist Yulya Dahl works to rebuild a home for her parents

Selfportrait of Yulya + #thatgirlsticker.

All images courtesy of Yulya Dahl

In 2017, Ukrainian artist Yulya Dahl started her guerrilla art project, #thatgirlsticker, which features a close-up image of a young girl with blonde hair and striking green eyes, printed on a sticker. The expression on her face is impossible to turn away from; it entreats the viewer to do something.

With the intention to spread the image organically, Yulya gave the stickers to all her friends to place somewhere in their environment, at home or while traveling.

Yulya’s poster featuring a faded, cropped #thatgirlsticker.

“I wanted this child’s eyes to watch in others’ souls like she watches in mine. For me, it is a representation of our inner child who wants for the adult to hear what he or she really wants.”

Now the girl’s face is pasted around the world — including on the posters Yulya recently created to raise money for Ukraine and for her parents. Like all Ukrainians, Yulya’s everyday life was turned upside down by Russia’s invasion into her homeland:

On March 6, our house, which my grandfather and father built and improved all their lives, in the village of Tsyrkuny, Kharkiv region was bombed to the core. It’s a miracle my parents survived being inside. The next day, due to another projectile, everything burned down. … At that time, the village was under occupation, and my parents were almost shot when they tried to leave. They stayed in two houses of our neighbors, but they also were bombed. Mom was weak, because her heart is not very healthy, and on February 24th she was still under a drip. They decided to cross the Russian border to get to Georgia, in our old car with a broken window, covered with a pillow. I flew and met them in Georgia, and from there we returned to Ukraine a month later. Almost 6000 kilometers from home, back to home.

“The embroidered flowers are a legacy from my grandmother from Poltava. I really wanted to hang this picture as soon as we finished the major renovation of the house. It was on the wall for about a month…”

Yulya is now collecting donations to help her parents move back in to a house of their own—a place where they can feel comfortable and safe again, where they can feel at home again. As she explains, while she is working hard to earn what she can, “it is far from easy now, and I have no idea how to accumulate the entire amount. There is not much hope for quick compensation because Ukraine needs so much to rebuild.”

I know how many tragedies and pains there are in our country right now, and I constantly donate to these people however I can. But then I realised that I’m one of them—and I was a little shocked.

Yulya’s parents’ home in the Kharkiv region was destroyed by Russian projectiles.

By donating €40 or more to help Ukraine and Yulya’s family, Yulya will send you a poster of your choosing featuring some of her artwork, printed on 40x50cm matte paper. Payment can be made using PayPal or Binance USDT (yulyadahl@gmail.com) or Monobank.

Yulya will give half of all donations to support the children in her village of Tsyrkuny and to help fund the Ukrainian army. The other half will go toward the house for her parents.

You can read Yulya’s full story and see more pictures of her life and family before the war on her Instagram post.

One of Yulya’s posters: “I think this picture most of all can represent feelings about home. The word means ‘heart’ in Ukrainian.”

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While it’s impossible to donate to every single person or cause, ZOOT believes we can all make a huge difference collectively by giving even just a little where we can—be it time, money or other resources to individuals and to organizations in need. What better way to close out 2022 than by supporting a cause close to your heart?

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