Tetiana Sopilniak’s collages marked as her Harmony Series inspire a tranquil, even lyrical mood. The idea is expressed primarily in the themes reflected by titles: Christmas; Evening Bells; In Front of a Mirror; Old Town... and then there are the forms, colors, and rhythms. Her collages are somewhat unusual in terms of technique, more akin to appliqu О . By joining small, even tiny details into a single whole, the artist makes the best use of the components’ color textures that transform, after painstaking work, into people, buildings, birds, flowers, or their fleeting shadows. Making such miniature collages takes as much effort and skill as the traditional women’s craft of embroidery; simultaneously, Tetiana’s indisputable talent and mastery raises her works to a higher level resembling the rosary.
To understand Tetiana Sopilniak’s unique works a little better, one must turn at least several pages of her life story. She graduated from Uzhhorod’s School of Applied Art, then from the Odesa Pedagogical Institute’s Graphic Arts Department. She has been working for Uzhhorod’s Erdeli College of Art for many years as manager of a traveling exhibit. In her native city the exposition attracts few visitors; not days but even weeks may pass without anyone entering. This makes the manager’s work tedious, of course. On the other hand, there is plenty of time. So she started doing collages and gradually became engrossed and enthused, her life receiving a new meaning. The slow day-to-day monotonous rhythm quickened and even gray days looked bright, lit by the woman’s inspiration. Provincial isolation suddenly opened new horizons, retaining the chamber style of images and creative sincerity. The artist is happy now that her beautiful collages are open for the Kyiv public. As in a tale with a happy ending, her works will hopefully find true admirers.
