Terrified by Russia’s bombing attacks on her hometown Kyiv in February 2022, artist Valeriia Tarasenko reluctantly left Ukraine and began a long journey to Chicago this past March.
She took advantage of the Biden administration’s two-year visa program for Ukrainians displaced by the Russian invasion, and the Ukrainian Art Bridge Fellowship program sponsored by Chicago sculptor John David Mooney.
Tarasenko is one of 10 Ukrainian artists who have come to Chicago through the fellowship, which covers their travel and living costs and pays them a stipend for three months. They live at Mooney’s spacious River North studio and gallery and have the opportunity to produce and exhibit their work there.
During her recently completed fellowship, Tarasenko produced more than 20 large paintings, fiber pieces and works on paper reflecting her experience of the war, exile and her impressions of Chicago. In one savage piece, she fed photos of Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials to hungry snails while living in the Spanish countryside, before coming to Chicago. The series of photos is called “Snails destroy the enemies of Ukraine.”
“I saw letters in my mailbox eaten by snails, so I decided to give them Putin and all the other enemies,” said theartist. “After a few hours, the snails destroyed his face.”
Mooney, whose own large sculptures are displayed outside the Adler Planetarium and in other public spaces around the country, said the visiting Ukrainian artists’ presentation of their work has helped Americans better understand Ukraine’s rich culture and the impact of the war.
“We thought when we set this up that by just giving the artists space and support, they would have a respite from their horrible situation,” he said. “We never thought they would give back to us the amount they have. Their work ethic is extraordinary.”
“Bringing these artists to Chicago has made a huge impact,” said Yevgeniy Drobot, Ukraine’s consul for public diplomacy in Chicago. “People get tired of hearing news only about the war. But when that terrible situation is spoken about in other ways, that makes a difference. Through art, you can talk to the hearts of people.”
Graphic designer Aliona Solomadina arrived in Chicago from Kyiv last November with her mother and 92-year-old grandmother, who had fled the war-torn northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Before leaving, her mother and grandmother spent three days in a freezing bomb shelter without food; under that stress, her grandmother stopped being able to recognize her mother.
“I’m really grateful that John David invited not only me but my relatives as well because I could not leave them behind in Ukraine,” she said.
One piece Solomadina produced during her fellowship is a digital clock featuring numbers drawn in stylized shapes that were inspired by Chicago architectural landmarks such as the Chicago Cultural Center and Marina Towers.
“In my exhibit, I decided not to depict war,” Solomadina said. “But when I present my project, I talk about losing my studio in Kyiv and my work routine, and I show my big desk as a symbol of losing this peaceful life.
“In Chicago, I just wanted to be focused on the topic of time,” she added. “That’s why I created this digital clock. It’s a symbol of my time, literally, that I spent in Chicago.”
On Wednesday, Mooney’s fellowship program will present a free lecture by renowned Ukrainian performance artist and painter Yaryna Shumska, at 6 p.m., at his International Currents Gallery at 114 W. Kinzie. It’s open to the public. That follows Shumska’s performance at the gallery Tuesday night of her latest piece, “How long to stand on one leg.” The Wednesday lecture will include a visual presentation on the artist’s life and art experience since the war started, and the current condition of contemporary art in Ukraine.
Shumska, who describes herself as a chronicler of “the memory of objects and their invisible stories,” wants to move her most cherished artworks out of her hometown Lviv to a safer location because she’s worried about the art works being damaged by bombing.
“Can I say goodbye to my work, which is almost like an extension of my body?” she told the Washington Post last year shortly after Russia launched its invasion.
In November, Mooney’s fellowship program will present a performance piece by Ukrainian artist Dasha Holovchanska and two colleagues called “Women, life, freedom,” followed by a puppeteering workshop presented by Holovchanska. Those events at the International Currents Gallery also will be free to the public.
Mooney said his foundation will try to continue the Ukrainian Art Bridge Fellowship for as long as the war lasts. There’s already a list of more Ukrainian artist-applicants eager to come to Chicago. The program has cost at least $150,000 so far, funded by donors in Chicago, other parts of the U.S. and Europe — and by Mooney himself.
“Everyone has been so generous, but now the pot’s dry and we have to reactivate our fundraising,” he said. “This is the only program in America like this.”
Mooney said they have already begun the visa process to bring in the next two artists.
“We will not let these artists in the lurch,” Mooney said. “We will continue to show and celebrate the extraordinary richness of the Ukrainian artistic culture. We will let it flower while Putin attempts to destroy it.”
Tarasenko, who’s still living in Mooney’s studio, isn’t sure what she’ll do next, after she finishes a two-week residency in New York City next month. She’s homesick and misses her parents in Kyiv. One of the most moving pieces she produced during her Chicago fellowship is a fabric embroidery titled “Pink War Diary,” which includes an image of her grandmother, who died in Ukraine last year after Tarasenko left the country.
“Going from one residency to another is really hard,” she said. “Sometimes you get very angry and you want to go home. But you can’t, it’s not safe. You want this to end.”
Still, Mooney said that through her art Tarasenko seemed to find hope. “When her paintings started out, you saw a loneliness and overriding sadness,” he said. “But by the end of the day, her paintings were colorful and energetic and joyful. Many people commented that they saw the journey and liked the transformation.”
