"Stay in Kyiv, build the first barricades. Volunteer.
During the sirens in the first weeks, focus on playing Renju so that emotions don't get the better of you. Print 81 etchings on one sheet of paper in your workshop, without paying attention to the sirens outside the window. One by one - an empty field - an anti-tank hedgehog - a tire. It was a fast-paced game where you have to concentrate and react quickly to your opponent's actions.
Renju is a game where you have to put 5 stones in a row. It is a strategy game that was once made to plan war strategy. A more difficult option is the game of Go. This composition has a field of 9x9 squares (this is a simplified version of the classic Renju game). The result was 81 squares, that is, 81 printed etchings in one work. Each game creates a new field, they are not repeated in order. Some games look like a geometric ornament or some strange code.
The history of the composition began with drawings of anti-tank hedgehogs and tires. I then created etchings with four different anti-tank urchins and a tire. These etchings became the basis for the series "Crosses and zeros", the composition "Plus". Hedgehogs as a symbol of resistance, protection, defense. Tires as a symbol of revolution, purification.
In the composition "Renju. Quick battle" tires and anti-tank hedgehogs met in dialogue. This is not a confrontation, but a concentration of all the forces that have been holding the Ukrainians all this time.
In 2014, I did not understand what it was to be a political artist. That is, I interpreted it incorrectly. You don't have to paint political/patriotic paintings to be an artist who wants independence for your country. Surprisingly, many artists thought so. It's naive, it's a shame and we've grown since then.
I am not 100% Ukrainian by genes, but I feel Ukrainian, as a part of the nation not by genes, but by political and cultural awareness. Self-identity was shared by many people. Now every thing I do is a contribution to freedom. To resist with one's existence, with each one's work. And with every sale of prints to make contributions so that our defenders defend us. Just like in the Renju game, we create a strategy because I have to plan for the long term." - Marianna Maslova