Abnegation

Beneath the obvious comparison between military service and Christian rituals, there is a deep, raw, bodily sense of spirituality that recalls the faith of the first Christians. The series searches for unpolished, direct traces of primordial religiosity.

Beneath the apparent parallels between military service and Christian ritual lies something more elemental: a raw, bodily form of spirituality.

Abnegation explores this deeper layer, tracing how contemporary military life in Ukraine reveals gestures and states of being that recall the faith of the first Christians — a faith lived before institutions, before ornament, before doctrine was stabilized.

Abnegation searches for unpolished signs of primordial religiosity within the structure of modern war. It does not sanctify conflict. Instead, it examines how narratives of redemptive suffering persist at a body level, shaping the way sacrifice is performed, perceived, and endured.