What did you do before February 24?
— I specialized in illustrating children’s books. Before the full-scale invasion, I worked with various publishing houses, but after it happened, our work had to be put on hold. Now, I have already resumed my work with the Shkola publishing house and am almost done illustrating a book for them. I also used to make collages, initially just for myself, but later I began incorporating them into my illustration work.
Did you think that a full-scale invasion could begin?
— I was one of those people who ignored the news about the possible beginning of a full-scale attack. I wanted to live with my pink glasses on and did not understand what was really happening. Until the last moment, I did not believe that there would be a full-scale war, and I did not pack my go-bag. Moreover, I go jazz dancing, and we were actively getting ready for a show that was supposed to take place on February 25.
How did February 24 start for you?
— I was at home, in Kyiv, when I woke up around 5 o’clock in the morning and heard the explosions. I woke up my boyfriend, and I called my parents and friends. We had no plan: we spent the whole day packing things and buying food. The next day, we went to the suburbs to my boyfriend’s parents’ house. Before the full-scale war, I did not know our history very well or understand the relationships between Russians and Ukrainians. When I started researching and learning how deep and serious everything is, I realized that I wanted to stay in Ukraine. I started feeling a strong connection with my native land, and I finally began to truly identify myself as Ukrainian. Unfortunately, I hadn’t realized this until recently. Yet in September, I went to Spain to study dancing.
What did creativity mean to you at the beginning of the full-scale war?
— On that same evening when we arrived at my boyfriend’s parents’ place in the village, I made my first collage.
The process of creating a collage was a release of emotions for me: I tear off pieces of paper, glue them, and I feel more at ease.
After a few days, I started looking for ways to help. There were a lot of chats in Telegram: there was a need to make designs, illustrations, and posters for various initiatives. Then I found Against War Gallery and made posters for them.
In March, a friend of mine asked me to hold collage workshops with her children via Zoom. Her family left for the West of Ukraine, and her children needed something to do. I was excited about it, and after some time, I decided to give free live broadcasts on Instagram for everyone on how to make collages. For instance, we created beasts reminiscent of those in the pictures of Maria Prymachenko.
The participants wrote that it helped distract them from the news—collage-making has a therapeutic effect. Then, thanks to the Volunteer Home organization, this activity grew into offline collage meetings for adults, as well as workshops for displaced children in Kyiv and in the de-occupied territories of the Kyiv region.
You specialize in illustrations for children. When you were drawing about the war, did you include some kind of messages specifically for children?
— It is hard for me to distance myself from illustrations for children; my brain usually works in that direction. Even if my works are not specifically for children, they often carry messages for them as well. I work with the Piznaiko magazine, and in March, they decided to continue publishing the magazine online. I created a spread for them about what children can do in a bomb shelter. At that time, it was one of my most valuable works.
How does the ninth month of the full-scale war affect your creativity?
— For the last few months, I have been focusing more on myself. Many of us have realized that it’s time to make plans and dreams come true, the ones that we had postponed “for later.”
Living in Ukraine, you come to understand that anything can happen at any moment, so you want to live your life to the fullest and make your plans work.
One of the ideas I had been putting off was creating my own book. Now, I am working on a book for children about the war.
Currently, when I work on personal projects, I don’t often reflect directly on the topic of war. Instead, I use my creativity to explore and tell stories about Ukrainian culture. I am delving deeper into folk art, reading about avant-garde artists, and connecting with aspects of Ukrainian culture that I hadn’t fully appreciated or had ignored before.
How do you define the role of art in a war?
— The war is also being fought on the cultural front, because culture is what people consume every day through movies, music, and works of art.
The fact that we were attacked physically is a result of losing on the cultural front.
That’s why it is now crucial to create and spread messages that tell the truth and are louder than Russian propaganda. Culture and art are small steps towards our peaceful future.
Original version published on November 17, 2022 in collaboration with Online media outlet Svidomi.