Ira Eduardovna: Vagabond

Ira Eduardovna was only 10 when her family emigrated from the collapsing Russia to Israel, where Saddam Hussein’s Scud missiles were landing as a result of the first Persian Gulf War. In her provocative video exhibit “Vagabond” (through December 27), the artist revisits those tumultuous childhood memories. Eduardovna and her parents appear in three video loops running simultaneously on Punch Gallery’s walls. One shows her in a school uniform playing with a hula hoop, her face hidden by a gas mask. Nearby, her parents pack their suitcases as if to leave in a hurry, while dogs bark frantically. We also see Eduardovna tracing her shadow in chalk, then wandering naked and aimless through a small bedroom. These images are deliberately unsettling, open to our interpretation. The now 28-year-old artist now lives in the immigrant friendly city of New York. But even there, as we know, there’s no guarantee of refuge from attack. Punch Gallery, 119 Prefontaine Pl. S., 621-1945, www.punchgallery.org. Free. Noon-5 p.m. ERIKA HOBART

Thursdays-Saturdays. Starts: Dec. 11. Continues through Dec. 27, 2008