(2013 – 2015. 358 works on A4 sheets of office paper. Watercolour, ballpoint pen)
The longer I worked on the series, the more obvious it became that reflections on the events sparked by a local protest in Kyiv (hence the title Kyiv Diary) transformed into reflections on the defining traits of human nature as such. I examined how actions and choices, however negligible in their trivial familiarity, are transformed in liminal situations, turning either into heroism bordering on sainthood, or into a crime.
I often combined human and animal attributes on a single sheet. It was not a forced simile: I found most of the “animal” elements in the events that I witnessed myself. For example, I drew a man in a bear or animal costume several times: all these types were indeed at Maidan, not leaving it even during the most dangerous moments. Men in animal costumes or owners of live white doves (of peace?), offering to pose for a photograph for a modest fee, did not leave even after downtown Kyiv was engulfed in flames. Their presence added a surreal air of symbolism to the unfolding events.
The milestones of the active stage of the confrontation were so staggering in their significance that, it seemed, reality was trying to outdo itself. Time thickened, pooling in certain spaces: there was not enough room for it in the cramped quarters of a local protest. It felt like I was swiftly jotting down the images that came to me ready-made at the breakneck speed of our contemporary history. I instantly recognized the elements that were previously concealed in the dark recesses of our calm life: all the implicit lurking protests and conflicts suddenly came to the fore. (Vlada Ralko)
Kyiv Diary. Solo exhibition «The Ghost of Freedom. Version», 2019, Arsenal Gallery, Bialystok
«Kyiv Diary». Museum of Pinsel Sculpture, Lviv National Art Gallery, Lviv