The Pylypenko exhibit features thematically linked bronze sculptures and laser photo montages. The theme is philosophical reflections on the cosmic significance of human beings, a combination of form and essence. The sculptor’s works consist predominantly of round-shaped figures usually associated with outer space, but they also radiate a purely Ukrainian and at the same time sad, laconic, and very expressive poetic spirit. The titles of the sculptures are self-explanatory: “Toward Light,” “Projection in Space,” “The Path to Oneself.” All these works form a perceptible monologue of the author and the stance of an individual who looks at customary things differently. One of Mirtala’s most striking pieces is a sculpture called “The Stranger,” which shows a solitary man standing opposite a crowd of people united by their antipathy to the “stranger.” On closer examination, her other works also display the primal essence of human relations rather than the cosmos. On the other hand, the author may be assigning to the word “cosmos” a meaning that is occasionally more or less remote from the sense of everyday life. I cannot clarify all these points with Ms. Pylypenko herself: she is in her seventies now and rarely travels outside the US. But she is a close observer of her historical homeland and holds exhibits in Ukraine from time to time. The staff of Ukraine House said that the sculptor donated many of her works on the first anniversary of independence in 1992, the year of her successful sculpture exhibition. The current exhibit features new gifts from Mirtala: 22 photo collages against the background of NASA photographs of outer space. These unconventional works of our ex- compatriot are on display at the Lesser Exhibition Hall of Ukraine House until Feb. 19.
