Olha Chernetska is a 35-year-old Ukrainian artist. Born in Kyiv, she studied at the National Academy of Visual Arts and Architecture. She has been drawing and painting with oils since childhood. Since 2013, she has been actively exhibiting in Ukraine and abroad. Her works include abstract compositions, still lifes, and portraits.
Taras Shevchenko National Museum is hosting an exhibition of her paintings, drawings, and collages from the series “Rhythms of the City” and “Intermezzo,” both created in 2016.
The artist described the exhibition and answered the questions of The Day’s reporter.
“This exhibition comprises three components. I called the first ‘Intermezzo,’ drawing on Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky’s famous novella, because this series was created in a suburban environment, in the village of Kozyn on the beautiful and quiet Kozynka River. It was in this atmosphere that I felt the rhythms described by Kotsiubynsky. My next series ‘City’ was done very quickly and spontaneously, literally in two days. It is based on the impressions I had while visiting the city of Tel Aviv and the Holy Land, the locations which I greatly admire for the incredible patriotism, striving for perfection and perseverance shown by the locals, and that was what I wanted to convey. The third component is a modern take on the image of the mythical hero Icarus.”
What did you desire to tell through these works?
“That it all will turn out fine. That the forces of good always win in the end. That, in spite of captivity and chains, and all the difficulties, we will still make it and win. It is not just words, I do believe in it, I am sure that it will be so.”
Your works’ similarity to those of prominent artists, is it a conscious technique?
“Yes, it is very conscious. I am still learning, I am on the quest. This is my school, these are my teachers. I am full of gratitude for them, but I am looking for my own way nevertheless.”
What direction of your movement do you see as the most promising?
“This exhibition is chaotic. You can see abstractionism and other schools here. I think it is up to art critics to judge. In any case, the influences of Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Gustav Klimt are evident.”
And Jackson Pollock. And Marc Chagall. And Mark Rothko. And Viktor Palmov.
“(Laughing.) Yes.”
And of those who have influenced you, who is personally closest to you?
“I am touched most deeply by works of Viktor Zaretsky and Maria Prymachenko. Their art is mine, it belongs here, and it trumps everything else. Of course, there are artists whom one bows down to. The word ‘respect’ is too weak for this attitude. I repeat: I am still learning, I am on the quest for myself.”
