In the last two years, I returned to realistic painting after 13 years of working only with color, with abstract painting. As if the premonition of war did not allow to do something detached from reality. Now, it seems to me that the only thing possible in art is to talk about Ukraine, to tell the truth about the war.
The full-scale invasion of Russia on the territory of Ukraine took the spring of 2022 from all Ukrainians. We did not feel it, we did not rejoice, we did not celebrate the birth of a new life, the first flowers and warming. It was general stress, grief and a lot of work (volunteering, writing, interviews, quick posters, moving to safer places and organizing life from scratch).
Only when summer came and I saw my favorite peonies blooming, I felt reborn and wanted to create art further between the feeling of life and death. I enjoyed my favorite flowers, and the very idea of a flower, formally, as a sign, reminds me of the explosions that I was very close to at the end of February 2022 and the sounds of which accompanied me throughout 2022 while creating the works of this series. From one point to the periphery, as an extension. Later I found out that there are even cannons called "Peonies". These explosions are still happening all over Ukraine because Russian missiles are bombing our civilian targets, we are still fighting and defending our lives, our land and our homes. We continue to witness what is happening and raise funds for our friends on the front. And the flowers continue to bloom, no matter what.
For this series, I used a variety of materials, including doilies that my grandmother knitted (she was good at this type of applied art) to honor her memory. Floral design is something very deep in our folk culture, and I want to be closer to my roots, especially now.