These paintings are made just a few miles away from the active combat zone in Ukraine.
Words from the artist:
Those of us born in the USSR were taught by the older generation that ‘if you haven’t studied something for a long time, you can’t just start doing it.’ We are a generation of people who were not taught to dream.
I started drawing in 2022, on the first day of the war, sitting in a bomb shelter, reflecting and reliving my past, as it was the only way to escape the new reality and uncertainty.
Dissecting my past down to the first clear childhood memory, I remembered what I always wanted to do and what I dreamed of.
I began to draw, hoping that there would still be an opportunity to start living anew, dedicating every free moment to make art.
It took about a year to find my own style. By early 2023, I focused on digital illustration, creating characters that expressed my fears, thoughts, emotions, memories. Their faces are often covered, showing secrecy, while their bodies are full and naked, symbolizing vulnerability/Insecurity and egocentrism.
In late 2023, I began painting with oils on canvas.
In doing so, I wanted to surround myself with my characters, bringing them into my physical world, so they would be with me, and would never be alone again.
By 2024, the world remains unstable, and I still live under daily shelling with no chance of escaping the constant state of fear and threat. This led me to paint in a new, more chaotic style, continuing to reflect through art.
The paintings have become a part of me, and I am a part of them.
Selling paintings is an opportunity for me to travel through my characters, to communicate with people, to be part of a world where there is no war.
N.N - Neseva Nesterenko