Beauty and Tenderness at an Exhibition at the Cultural Center
After a cold and anxious winter, we long for warmth, light, and hope. The exhibition Women’s Territory of Art at Igor Sikorsky Polytechnic Institute, on display at the Igor Sikorsky Polytechnic Institute Art Gallery, offers a welcome opportunity to connect with beauty. The exhibition features works by female university staff members, including paintings, graphic art, embroidery, and decorative and applied art.
“We organized this exhibition to give the talented women of Igor Sikorsky Polytechnic Institute—researchers and staff members—the opportunity to showcase their artistic skills,” said V. Totkina, Head of the Art Gallery, at the exhibition opening. “Works of art should breathe, not remain at home on people’s walls, but live in open spaces where colleagues and students can see them.”
Sixteen participants took part in the exhibition, presenting 80 works. The most active contributors were representatives of the Cultural Center and the Scientific and Technical Library. “Thank you to everyone who responded to our invitation. From an organizational perspective, it is not difficult to put together a solo exhibition: an artist provides the works, they are hung, and the exhibition opens. But it was especially interesting to showcase the talent and artistry of the women of Igor Sikorsky Polytechnic Institute,” Viktoriia Stanislavivna explained.
And so we explore the exhibits and discover the meanings they convey. Among them are exquisite watercolors by Olha Bazhenova, a graduate of Igor Sikorsky Polytechnic Institute and the Academy of Fine Arts, founder of a creative studio and artistic association, participant in more than 40 exhibitions, and an educator. Architecture is among her favorite subjects, and the exhibition features views of Igor Sikorsky Polytechnic Institute.
Liudmyla Shesterikova, a graduate of the Educational and Research Institute of Publishing and Printing, Doctor of Philosophy in Education, and lecturer at the Academy of Applied Arts, presents portraits and landscapes.
Olena Kirik, Academic Secretary of the Educational and Research Institute of Applied System Analysis, studied drawing at an art school, through specialized courses, and at an international art school. Her primary artistic medium is acrylic painting, characterized by refined color work. Her expressive, uninhibited style adds charm to her compositions and semi-abstract landscapes.
Natalia Lapkovska, a leading specialist in the Academic Secretary’s Office, created crocheted frame dolls. The more closely you look at them, the more they seem to look back at you. In a moment, the green-haired, voluptuous Mavka might lead you away, while Hercule Poirot scrutinizes you suspiciously through his magnifying glass.
The paintings by Olena Farshidi, Deputy Director of the Cultural Center, captivate with the delicacy of flowers and the passion of the carnival. “Flowers often appear in my work as symbols of living beauty, tenderness, and the fleeting nature of a moment. In their colors and forms, I sense a special poetry of nature that I try to convey on canvas,” Olena explains. “The figures of Harlequin and Columbine appeared in my work after a trip to Venice. The atmosphere of the city, its history, and carnival traditions inspired me to turn to the characters of commedia dell’arte. I was interested in conveying the interplay of emotions, theatricality, and the subtle mystery that is always present in art.”
The works of Yevheniia Arkhypska, a leading engineer at the Department of Physics, also leave a lasting impression, as do the floral paintings by Iryna Kuzevanova, a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Chemical Technology; the embroidery by Liudmyla Tepikina and Olha Slesarieva; and the original collages by Tamara Bezrukova, all members of the Scientific and Technical Library, among others.
Olena Korzh, a staff member of the Cultural Center, delighted visitors with her bead embroidery. Her Masks series features a mysterious Italian woman in a bright costume, a passionate Spaniard with a fiery gaze, and an enigmatic stranger rendered in black-and-white tones. Their personalities are unmistakable, and the images are intriguing. Visitors linger here for a long time, just as they do beside the delicate pastel paintings by Liudmyla Perevalova, a senior accountant.
The exhibition can be visited until the end of March.
