At 1.23am on 26th April 1986, a series of explosions shook the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine, which was then part of the Soviet Union. The sky blazed as devastating amounts of radiation leaked into the atmosphere. Falling on Belarus and adjacent countries, the radiation contaminated everything. 38 years later, Chernobyl is still a ghost town.

Genie Poretzky-Lee began a series of drawings about Chernobyl, in the spring of 2024, to investigate the tension between human progress and the damaging and unforeseen effects of industrial development. Through layered collages she finely balances the fragility of human life with the consequences of advancement. She explores the contrast between the violent rupture caused by the Chernobyl disaster and the slow, almost indifferent progression of nature as it reclaims the toxic radiated spaces. Her collages evoke a sense of melancholy, noting the indelible marks left behind on the landscape by such a traumatic history.