In 2012, Mariia Kulivkovska created three soap sculptures moulded from her body as part of the programming at Izolyatsia, the first cultural centre of its kind in Donetsk, Ukraine. In June 2014, the centre was seized by pro-Russian separatists resulting in a devastating loss for the artistic community. Mariia's continued experimentation into the use of soap for her sculptural works led her to Malmö, Sweden. Here she purchased vast quantities of soap from a factory which was also providing human-size blocks of soap to Swedish weapon manufacturers. The same luminous, flesh-like material she was using to recreate sections of her body was being utilised by weapon's factories for testing and targeting. Her soap sculptures, therefore, appear peaceful and gentle on the surface but engage with a much larger dialogue about the international weapons’ trade and the state of affairs in Ukraine.