The story of HERO ARMOR began with an event that happened to the founder of the project, Lisa Kormilets, at Burning Man. In 2025, Lisa brought to the Temple a photo of her cousin Zakhar Zakharov, a Ukrainian 3D artist who volunteered to defend Ukraine in the first days of the full-scale invasion and did not return. The photo also included one of his digital works - an image of a futuristic warrior, created before the war. Among the thousands of photos in the Temple, Zakhar's photo was accidentally seen by his childhood friend. He did not know about Zakhar's death and began to look for the person who left the photo. That's how he reached out to Lisa and found out what happened to his friend.
Visualization provided by the HERO ARMOR team
This incredible chain of coincidences became for Lisa the starting point for HERO ARMOR. After returning from Burning Man, she felt that this story should be continued in the form of an art object. The image created by Zakhar could to go beyond digital work and become a way to talk about him and about thousands of other Ukrainians whose lives, voices, dreams and works are important to preserve in public memory. For Lisa, HERO ARMOR was also a story about the courage to start. At that time, she had no experience in creating large-scale art installations, a ready-made team or a clear implementation plan. There was only a strong feeling that this idea needed to be tried to be realized.
The first to respond was her friend Marcel. Hearing the story after Lisa returned from Burning Man, he offered to print the details of the future sculpture on his 3D printer. This simple and concrete proposal was the first confirmation that the idea could turn into a real project. Later, Lisa was joined by her father and brother. They helped translate the emotional idea into spatial solutions and created the first 3D models of the sculpture. The project was at a point of uncertainty more than once, but it continued to develop thanks to people who were touched by this story and who were ready to invest their experience, time and trust in it.
In 2026, the HERO ARMOR team will take the sculpture to Black Rock City, a temporary city in the Nevada desert, where Burning Man annually brings together large-scale art, international communities, and participants from all over the world. The theme of the event is Axis Mundi, a symbol of the connection between people, communities, nature, and a shared reality. In the year of its 40th anniversary, the festival will become a space where Ukraine seeks to convey to the world the philosophy of INDESTRUCTIBILITY - to remind us that true strength is born from unity, mutual support, and an unbreakable desire to live despite everything.
In this context, HERO ARMOR becomes a Ukrainian story that enters the international art space. The sculpture recreates Zakhar's image of a futuristic defender in blue and yellow. It is a symbol of the inner armor that a person finds within himself when protecting others, going through loss, or continuing to live, preserving the memory of loved ones.
Visualization provided by the HERO ARMOR team
The project also has a charitable component, joining forces with the UNBROKEN rehabilitation center in Lviv to support war victims. Thanks to this, the living memory of the dead is translated into real help for those who are now returning to a full life through physical and psychological recovery.
The charitable partner of HERO ARMOR is the Rescue Now Foundation, which is responsible for the social component of the project, international partnerships and conducting an official transparent fundraising campaign. As part of the initiative, the Foundation signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Unbreakable Charity Foundation to direct the attention of the international community and the resources involved to programs of physical and psychological rehabilitation of people affected by the war.
The HERO ARMOR team invites partners, patrons, and everyone who shares the project’s values to join the initiative. Its support helps people recovering from the consequences of war and enables Ukrainian history to be heard on a global artistic platform.
See also:
Reflection in the Desert: The Point of Unity and the Art of Unity
Mykola Kabluka will present a unique art installation at Burning Man