Conveying important ideas through simple images

Vivid and positive pictures created by Havryshchuk immediately attract the viewer’s attention. Her works, which deal with Ukraine, the events we are now going through, love for the Fatherland, and our native language, spread over social networks fast. They are popular because, despite their complicated subjects, they instill hope and inspire. Her images, while looking simple at first glance, embody important ideas. The Day discussed with Havryshchuk how she created her works, what inspired her and what role she saw for the visual arts today.

 “My first patriotic picture Love Ukraine appeared almost by accident. I painted it in summer 2013, before all these events, while other pictures, dealing with Crimea and the current situation in Ukraine, appeared as the events unfolded in the country. I think the artist chooses on their own what they depict and why. The ongoing events are important for some, others stay neutral, and others still keep their thoughts to themselves. I paint them because I have my own experience with all that. My pictures express my thoughts, prayers, feelings, dreams...

“I think the visual arts have an important role to play in the modern world, and they are growing rapidly, for simple images can convey topical ideas more successfully, because pictures, apt images are perceived better and remembered better than simple texts.

“My picture Love Ukraine instantly spread on the Internet, even before the Euromaidan. I did not think that it would be so popular. The picture of the heart of Ukraine followed suit, perhaps because it used a very simple and understandable image. Some people did write that ‘Crimea is not yours anymore, and it was not really yours before,’ but they were few.

“However, picture To Be Ukrainians prompted more criticism, as people asserted that it was wrong and false and doubted my own Ukrainianness. In general, it is interesting that these people took it very seriously and overlooked its core meanings.

I do not know where Ukraine’s heart is, but what we are experiencing now does feel like heartache

“I started painting as a child, and so attended an art school in addition to a regular one. I went on to study architecture, graduated from Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture, worked and painted in my spare time. Later on, small sketches began to appear amid my professional drawings and drafts, and I decided to paint them on separate sheets, and so some interesting paintings appeared that began to spread over social networks. I do not have that many projects in my portfolio. They include my own series of postcards, some paintings for children’s magazines, charity postcards made for the Good Postcard initiative, and cover art and illustrations for the book Talking about Everything...”