
Plein Air
"ON THE EDGE"
Between yesterday and tomorrow, in a time and space that was impossible to imagine until recently: Who we are today and what the confusing world is like for us.
This is the theme of the dialogue between the artist and the canvas, hosted at the Ukrainian Catholic University, at the charity Plein Air art expo "On the Edge," which took place from April 4-11, 2022.
About.
With the help of the SaveCultureUA volunteer association, we invited 11 artists from outside Galicia to participate. These artists were forced to seek refuge in L'viv these days.
This charity project is not over yet: you can be a part of it now by making a designated donation, which will increase our support for refugee artists in need and help UCU organize similar projects in the future.
Artists & Works.

Albina Yaloza
Year of birth: 1978
Place of living: Kyiv
“The body of Christ” (series) | "Terra" (series)
| acrylic painting and linocut print on canvas |
The body of Christ accepts hints of altered geometries. Adopting victims and the dismantling of the body from the place of execution is a cross-section of each person's daily routine. This series presents the viewer's portrait of the empirical Uroboros of suffering and catharsis. Bread is the body; wine is the blood.

Vitaly Zherdev
Year of birth: 1971
Place of living: Kharkiv
Candidate of Art History, Associate Professor of Drawing, Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts, Honorary Professor of Sichuan University.
“Pain” | “Expectations” | “Look” (series)
| oil painting on canvas |
A series of works "Pain," "Expectations," and "Look" can be perceived as a series and as a series of individual works. It is a reflection on the events of our troubled times. Emotional pain and a wide range of emotions permeate the male figure, at the same time, a small cross - a symbol of Faith and the need to remain a Christian and a man regardless of the circumstances. An older woman, what is she waiting for? Maybe a son and perhaps his departure from earthly life. The image is enlightened and peaceful. It is already on the border between earthly life and eternity. She is ready for the main meeting. The gaze of the old is like the gaze of the Creator. There is no anger here. There are questions for us, His creations, and it is a pity because we have been given so much.

Mykyta Tsoy
Year of birth: 1991
Place of living: Kyiv
“Abandoned flowers” (series)
| oil painting on canvas |
The series consists of four works.
Every traveler (refugee) who left his home left his life there. Abandoned flowers are an allegorical background for the state of mind during a forced journey.

Olga Zaremba
Year of birth: 1994
Place of living: Kyiv
“New realities” (series)
| mix tecnica painting on canvas |
Here in Lviv, we have the opportunity to create and express our emotions on the canvas. I have been working on fears and anxieties for several years. It so happened that in the current conditions, it continues, although now I experience it in slightly different contexts and emotional states.

Kateryna Zub
Year of birth: 1980
Place of living: Kharkiv
“Mother” | “Christus Vincit” | “My Viburnum” | “Bridge”
| oil painting on canvas |
The stone withstands the losses caused by history. Human bodies, no. War destroys everything. There is no hope, only the pain of loss. The sculpture is a tombstone in the courtyard of St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Kamianets-Podilskyi. The statue on the second canvas is in the same place - "Christus Vincit" (Christ wins). Christ, who suffers bullying, stands bound and is crucified. But he will still win because he will overcome death and be resurrected.
Two landscapes are the way from one's home to a temporary home, from ordinary life to the unknown.
"My Viburnum" is a view from my house window, and "Bridge" symbolizes the transition to another shore, to another life that will have to be known.

Victoria Romanchuk
Year of birth: 1997
Place of living: Kivertsi, Volyn’ region
Oleksiy Konoshenko
Year of birth: 1979
Place of living: Gorlivka, Donetsk region
“Statue/state of the stone.” | “Bucha”
“States of War” (series)
| acrylic and charcoal painting on canvas |
The "States of War" series is about the hostilities in each of us, no matter where we are.
"Changing reality" is the moment when someone presses the trigger; what will happen then can no longer be compared with what existed before ...
"Anger" is not always a fight, sometimes, it is tears and flight, but it is always the most potent reaction that drives us.
After that always comes devastation "Depression."
Studies claim that "after six months, almost everyone felt a decrease in negative emotions, BUT complete recovery has not occurred ..."
"Acceptance" is an action that cannot be completed now because how can you reconcile and accept what has no end and causes you new pain every day.


Svyatoslav Nemchenko
Year of birth: 1999
Place of living: Kharkiv
“Numbness” (diptych) | “Soul”
| acrylic painting on canvas |
The feeling of hopelessness is caused by the initial fear that binds the body, changing the perception of reality to surrealism. When your body freezes in a motionless position because the whole space affects you like a trigger, iT is a state of explosions, panic, and uncertainty.

Daria Karnaukhova
Year of birth: 2002
Place of living: Kharkiv
“Three states.” (Series )
| acrylic and charcoal painting on canvas |
"Where does it fly from?"
"I understand."
"Attention!"
Black and white, achromatic images, resolved exclusively tonal. In these contrasts - internally experienced feelings, emotional state, and experience of a man of war.

Kateryna Leleko
Year of birth: 2002
Place of living: Dnipro
“Hunting” | “Hungry”
| acrylic and charcoal painting on canvas |
"Hunting"
The canvas depicts predatory sea creatures, the shape of whose bodies resemble missiles. These shells hunt for people's lives, homes, plans, and dreams. And yet freedom
"Hungry"
The beast depicted is the skeleton of a cluster shell that exploded, crippling people's lives. But he went to the bottom, losing.

Oleksandra
Vinichenko
Year of birth: 2003
Place of living: Mariupol
“People” | “Freedom”
| acrylic and charcoal painting on canvas |
"On the edge" - a drop on a sharp rock, flying into the dark unknown. This drop is my feelings. It is me, with my experience of war and loss. In 2014 I lost my first home in the Donetsk region. Now I don't have a second one in Mariupol
The diptych "People" attempts to convey the emotions of different people who are going through similar trials - sadness, anger, despair, uncertainty, hatred, anger, hopelessness, and indifference.
"Freedom"
The Monument of Independence of Ukraine was built in 2001. It is a sign of the freedom of our country, which they are trying to take away from us, We will not give up!

Kateryna Motspan
Year of birth: 2003
Place of living: Vinnytsia
“Current”
| acrylic and charcoal painting on canvas |
Triptych "Current"
People like glass; transparent and fragile, they fully reflect the environment and are part of it.
When the environment is bright and joyful, people are full of hopes and plans to live; when the environment is filled with poison, people weaken, shrink, and become a weak reflection of their past.
The events depicted on the canvases flow smoothly, reflecting the passage of time and the variability of processes, where man is only a witness, only a fragile glass figure that reflects the world around him.

