Work created fro Sheptytsky Museum, Lviv, Ukraine.
Curated by Eleonora Brizi for Breezy Art.
Mediums: Lino Printing, Ink, watercolour and some digital wonders
Description:
In place, deep down my imagination, I met an old lady in the park, packing her Art and Craft supplies.
I greeted her. And she said to me in a slavic accent that the good season is gone, the flowers have wilted and the the ground started to freeze.
She show me her drawings, loaded with folkloric patterns and mentioned her beloved Galychyna. I realised she was Ukrainian
A tear trickled down my cheek. I asked her how is she going, how is her family and what happened to her since the war started. She presses my hand gently and asked if I had time for an old lady like her? I invited to sat on the bench and she started to count me her Childhood in the hilly landscape of Galicia, how she managed to be the first woman in Galychyna who received a professional art education: she graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. How she loved traditional art and had a passion for watercolour and printing technics. I cried that I was a watercolourist too but never tried the lino printing technics. She had a smile, she claimed she was the one who brought back the printing technics in Ukraine and asked if I wanted to try. And she gave me some tools and we had fun trying. I got inspired by « Mother » one of her illustration she was carrying with her. I started elaborating how being an artist with children was something shaping art and questioned her if she had a family. But she did not reply. I respected her privacy.
And I created my first lino printing and she smiled at me, it was a good start. I told her that I created my vision of parenthood in A Ukraine at war, with these mums and dads wishing above all to protect what they had the most precious…
I told the old lady that I did a project to help raising money for Children in Ukraine with NFT and CryptoArt. Her curiosity got triggered. She mentioned that back in the time she sold her art as postcard to help refugees but never heard about NFT… I told her that NFT would be a lovely way to protect her beloved Ukrainian culture and Art and we should have a play with Digital Art and CryptoArt together. And I saw a little stars shining in her eyes. As much as I can I explain her the technics and I took the lino printing we did together and with my iPad show her the wonders we could do - I blended it with a watercolour and she was amazed! Her two favorite technics in one piece and I minted it forever on the Blockchain! I told her, no bomb, no attack would never put it at risk and our legacy was safe forever.
She was the one have a tear. She stood up. Gathered her belongings. Made a few steps. And back to me. Huge smile. « My family is you, Art lovers, Artists… I lived for Art and dedicated my Art to preserve Ukrainian Art and Traditions, Cultures. Keep going. You make me proud»
And she vanished in a whirlwind.
In an instant, 4,000+ artworks blew away in the park, mixing with the autumn leaves.
And a signature. Olena Kulchytska.
You’ll never be forgotten.
