Place: Pritličje, Mestni trg 2, Ljubljana.
A country of volunteers – that’s how it sometimes seems when we look at what has happened in Ukraine over the last ten years. The volunteer movement in Ukraine intensified during the 2013-2014 Revolution of Dignity, especially after the full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine. Who are the Ukrainian volunteers? Is it difficult to volunteer for ten years in a row? How to support both the people of your country and the efforts to preserve the borders of your country, even if you live outside it? How do others see volunteers? How do they see themselves? Where do they get the strength to carry on and not give up?
With the exhibition “Volunteers in the battle for life and freedom,” Uartist, the international community of Ukrainian artists, aims to raise the visibility of ordinary and yet extraordinary people and to pay tribute to their contribution to the struggle for the victory of life and freedom. The authors of the artworks are Ukrainian artists living in Ukraine or having Ukrainian roots.
The Uartist community organizes the exhibition with the support of the Grounded Festival and Pritličje.
By purchasing the artworks, you can support the work of the Uartist community, which was established after the start of the full-scale russian military invasion to help connect Ukrainian artists during the war. The exhibition is a pre-event of the Grounded Festival, which takes place this year from 24 to 26 August, with the theme of Peace.
Thank you 💛💙
Contact:
Anna Miklashevich, founder of the community Uartist
info@uartist83.com, +38631017175
(Slovenian, English, Ukrainian)
Participants of the exhibition
United Souls
Margarita Stepanova
Original: acrylic painting on canvas, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 50x40cm. 【№ 01】
Price (without frame): 40€
The world needs volunteers to have hope for tomorrow. Volunteer work unites us, gives us faith, and makes us human. Today, I have no doubts that volunteer activity in Ukraine has become a solid and indomitable force in the struggle for the life and freedom of our people. Volunteers organize fundraising daily for our defenders' needs. Volunteer centers help with evacuation, housing, medicine, clothes, and food to people affected by shelling, forced to leave their homes due to war, flooding, occupation... They save animals that need help no less than people. A good deed unites souls, has immeasurable power, and has no religious, ethnic, or geographical limitations.
Bio: Margarita Stepanova is an artist from Southern Ukraine, the city of Kherson. Studied at Kherson State University, majoring in Fine Art and Design, and has a bachelor's degree. She has been a full-time artist since 2020, working in the acrylic technique. Margarita is a member of the union UARTIST 83. Her message in the art is: "Time is fleeting! Sometimes I want to say: - a moment, stop! Instancy - you're incredible! But it is impossible to stop time. We can only leave a memory of our feelings from what we saw or heard. And it seems that art can create new memories and history!"
Link to the artist's page
Pulse of humanity
Kateryna Goncharova
Original: mixed media painting on canvas, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 50x70cm. 【№ 02】
Price (without frame): 50€
Everything created in this world is created by the heart and hands. They represent the power of love, pure intention, and reverence for life. We voluntarily take on the cross of responsibility, and it is alive - it will be covered with young shoots, bloom and bear fruit, and only they can genuinely saturate the soul. We voluntarily carry on our backs those who cannot care for themselves. We improve and develop through the privilege of serving the world. We are not accidental here. We are all debtors of love. And that is why we are human. A sincere heart can save thousands of lives! If you break and fall into the abyss, the participation and empathy of a sensitive heart will keep you in this world. My work is a tribute to all volunteers whose hands and hearts lie hundreds of thousands of saved lives!
Bio: Kateryna Goncharova is a Ukrainian artist born in the Kherson region, currently residing in Armenia. Her work revolves around important social and philosophical issues such as war, emigration, the role of volunteers, refugee issues, environmental issues, and issues women face in a patriarchal society. Kateryna also loves creating figurative artworks dedicated to human diversity, inclusivity, and inner strength. Kateryna prefers to create her works in mixed media with oils and acrylics. “I consider my picture successful when it affects a person from the inside, helps to understand something in oneself, and reveals thoughts and feelings that may not have been able to express before. Even if an artwork only touches a small part of the viewer's soul, it can still be considered a meaningful and living creation, from heart to heart."
Link to the artist's page
Box of hope
Olha Vlasova
Original: mixed media painting on board, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 40x50cm. 【№ 03】
Price (without frame): 40€
I drew inspiration from the memory of the onset of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by russian troops. During that time, my friend and her mother lived in the Kharkiv district, which experienced daily and frequent shelling. Fearing for their safety, they hardly left their house, even for the most necessary things. Their situation was dire, with food shortages, but they received occasional support from volunteers who brought some food and medicine. Once, my friend sent me a photo of the contents of a humanitarian box. Inside were a loaf of bread and two frozen chicken thighs. Such a small thing helped a family of two women to sustain life and eventually enabled them to relocate to a safer place. Small acts of kindness like these hold immeasurable value, and we can help rekindle hope for broken destinies.
Bio: Olha Vlasova was born and raised in the east of Ukraine. Since the occupation of her hometown of Makiivka in 2014, she has never been able to return home. This loss has helped her truly comprehend the depth of her love for her Homeland. Her passion for painting dates back to her childhood. Olha received an art education in painting and costume design (including traditional Ukrainian costumes) at the Kyiv Academy of Decorative and Applied Arts and Design, named after Mykhailo Boychuk, significantly influencing her artistic style. Olha enjoys experimenting with various techniques and materials but particularly finds acrylics to offer limitless possibilities for imagination and exploration. Her artworks consistently convey profound emotions, nostalgia, and a genuine admiration for beauty.
Link to the artist's page
Volunteers hold the world
Alina Monastirska
Original: watercolor painting on paper, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 50x70cm. 【№ 04】
Price (without frame): 50€
Each hand on the canvas reflects a different type of volunteer activity, from providing medical assistance and helping animals to rebuild cities after wars. These hands illustrate the diversity and importance of volunteers' role in our society. After all, the world is sustained by help and support. Volunteers give a piece of themselves, making the world a little happier. This is inspiring. They act as that necessary link that holds society together, providing aid to those in need. As long as there are volunteers in the world, the sun will shine for all of us.
Bio: Alina Monastirska is a 22-year-old artist living in Ukraine. Alina graduated from an art school with honors and is currently studying for a master's degree in "Fine arts, decorative and applied arts, and restoration". Monastirska won 1st place at the III All-Ukrainian Art Competition "Ukraine is United."
Link to the artist's page
REturn
Nadiia Velychko
Original: collage, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 70x50cm. 【№ 05】
Price (without frame): 50€
The work is dedicated primarily to the volunteers who helped Ukrainian refugees at the beginning of the full-scale invasion and continue to help today. These are volunteers both in Ukraine and abroad. Their helping hand to women, children, and older people in the most challenging times is priceless. It not only provided domestic support but also moral support. The work consists of symbols and visual elements that create the image of a refugee as a person who flees to the unknown, taking his entire home while dreaming of returning, and volunteers who lend a helping hand, providing wings to move forward. The overall emotional content of the work is relatively positive. It shows our shared ability to create light around us despite the darkness and to remember the humanitarian plight of refugees in a world where a volunteer hand is always outstretched to help.
Bio: Nadiia Velychko is a graphic designer, visual artist, curator, lecturer at the Kharkiv State Academy of Design, expert at the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, and a Ph.D. in philosophy. Born in Donbas, she has been living in Kharkiv since 2014. Before russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, her creative practices were focused on poster design, and the theme of her work was ecology and environmental protection. Nowadays, her primary artistic practice is related to documentation and artistic reflection on the war in Ukraine and the topic of refugees. The artist sees her goal as rethinking the experience of war, conveying the emotional experience of war to a broad audience. This should become a means of prevention and a reminder for the whole world. She uses collage and ceramics as her mediums. Collage is well suited for talking about social issues because collage is a technique that focuses on finding context and a place for each part of the whole.
Link to the artist's page
Duality
Vladlena Lobus
Original: acrylic and oil painting on canvas , 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 70x50cm. 【№ 06】
Price (without frame): 50€
This painting portrays the dual nature of our world, where pain and hope coexist. It reflects the devastating flood's impact, caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka Damcountered, and was inspired by the courage of volunteers who united to save lives. The painting features smoke turning into a transparent cloud against a bloody backdrop, with a stork symbolizing the nation standing tall. It captures life's contrasts, where beauty emerges amid pain, and hope persists amidst the darkness. Volunteers offer a beacon of support in times of need, urging us to choose hope and resilience.
Bio: Vlada Lobus, a Ukrainian artist, was born in Dnipro, Ukraine, and currently resides in Krakow, Poland. With a master's degree in political economics from Shanghai University, she explored her passion for art alongside her academic pursuits. Vlada honed her skills in watercolor and oil painting techniques through dedicated study and practice in various artists' studios. When Ukraine faced the turmoil of a full-scale war, Vlada made a courageous decision to leave the corporate world behind and follow her artistic aspirations. Painting became the medium through which she expressed her emotions, delving into themes such as the duality of the world and the process of coping with pain. Each canvas she creates is a profound projection of her inner world, allowing viewers to glimpse her reflections on the profound impact of war and its consequences.
Link to the artist's page
The bravest of the brave with the purest soul
Tetiana Pchelnykova
Original: oil painting on canvas, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 40x50cm.【№ 07】
Price (without frame): 40€
My country is called the unicorn in the world. In heraldic symbols, this word is "the bravest of the brave with the purest soul." A young woman in a national Ukrainian costume - vyshyvanka- sits beside a unicorn. It's symbolic to me, and it's so natural because it was women who showed that powerful strength of indestructibility, which through their volunteering, brings closer the victory of my brave people over the evil of rashism. Ornamental national motifs in the picture show through the layers of paint, as if from our imagination. The magical character of the unicorn also subconsciously talks about a pure soul who believes in a miracle, about the soul of the women of my country and the entire Ukrainian people.
Bio: Tatyana Pchelnikova is a painter and volunteer from Kyiv, Ukraine. She has been a full-time mixed-media figurative and conceptual artist since 2016. She is an author of training programs on painting for beginners. Since 2018, Tatyana's paintings have been presented at all Ukrainian and European exhibitions, including three personal presentations. Her artworks were published in a catalog, «Painting and Graphics 6,» with a circulation of 50,000 copies, published by the International Art Alliance New York in the USA.
Link to the artist's page
A Dove of Peace
Tetiana Pchelnykova
Original: oil painting on canvas, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 40x50cm.【№ 08】
Price (without frame): 40€
Today, a woman in my country is not only a mother, a daughter, or a grandmother but also a powerful force that brings the Victory over rashism closer. I remember how, in March 2022, when there was almost no one left in Kyiv, a woman at our entrance asked for help knitting camouflage nets for the front. I collected all possible gray and green fabric around the house, and we went to school to make nets. How many such women have I seen during these one-and-a-half years of war, from young girls to women? Everyone found their place in this volunteer work. Although our hearts are torn to pieces every day by the news from the front, and after the bombing of the cities and towns of our native country, we know about our inevitable Victory. This painting is about a Ukrainian woman carrying a dove of peace.
Bio: Tatyana Pchelnikova is a painter and volunteer from Kyiv, Ukraine. She has been a full-time mixed-media figurative and conceptual artist since 2016. She is an author of training programs on painting for beginners. Since 2018, Tatyana's paintings have been presented at all Ukrainian and European exhibitions, including three personal presentations. Her artworks were published in a catalog, «Painting and Graphics 6,» with a circulation of 50,000 copies, published by the International Art Alliance New York in the USA.
Link to the artist's page
Little humanitarian aid volunteer
Liudmyla Popova
Original: acrylic painting on canvas, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 40x50cm.【№ 09】
Price (without frame): 40€
The painting portrays little humanitarian aid volunteer Nina Skrynska. This 3-year-old girl was helping her parents, who volunteered to aid and care for displaced Ukrainian families who fled russia's aggression and found refuge in Rivne in west Ukraine. The family got their friends together to fundraise for food, clothes, and other essential things for the displaced families. The painting echoes Edvard Munch's The Scream, which cries out in pain and terror. Nature suffers greatly from russia's onslaught in Ukraine as invaders blow up dams and destroy cities and villages. Yet Ukrainians have a strong will to fight against the enemy despite the terror and find resolve in humanitarian aid efforts. The bridge the child is crossing, with a pack of humanitarian assistance, embodies the spirit of Ukraine's unity. She goes the way of kindness and love that can bring hope of a brighter future to Ukraine and the world.
Bio: Liudmyla Popova lives in Rivne City in Ukraine. She graduated from Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University. For twenty years, she had been excelling as a graphic designer. In 2020, after three years of self-study, she discovered a newfound passion for watercolors and devoted herself to mastering the intricate art of watercolor painting. Seeking to further develop her skills, in 2021, Liudmyla enrolled at the First Private Academy of Arts in Vienna. This marked a pivotal moment as she explored a fresh style and embraced acrylic techniques. Her artworks now express emotions through vibrant colors and captivating imagery.
Link to the artist's page
Star flowers of our country
Yasya Shlepetska
Original: gouache drawing on paper, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 70x50cm. 【№ 10】
Price (without frame): 50€
Volunteers are flowers that adorn our world with the kindness of their souls. There are names of notable volunteers shining during difficult times for my country. You can read on the flowers. I consider red-haired Tata Kepler the main star of the volunteer family, who provides tactical medicine to our soldiers and goes to the front with her team, helping people who still live in villages under constant shelling. Thanks to her volunteer movement, thousands of lives have been saved.
Bio: Yasya Shlepetska is a Ukrainian artist who lives in Slovakia. In her hometown, Dnipro, located in the East of Ukraine, she attended an art school and then studied at the university, specializing in interior design. After graduating from university, she worked as a graphic designer. During her maternity leave, while establishing herself as a mother, she reconsidered her career direction and currently works as an art therapist and a commercial artist. When the full-scale invasion in Ukraine began, Yasya was involved as a volunteer, helping refugees find housing. Thanks to her Slovak language skills, she also served as a translator between Ukrainian patients and Slovak doctors at an oncology center. Yasya has always been emotionally attached to Ukraine and honors her heritage. During the war, she created many sketches supporting Ukraine. Then she turned them into prints, postcards, and painted patriotic T-shirts because she felt art could never be separate from reality.
Link to the artist's page
Ants
Yasya Shlepetska
Original: oil pastel painting on board, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 70x50cm. 【№ 11】
Price (without frame): 50€
In this work, I would like to draw attention to the fact that the work of volunteers is often invisible. It is as invisible as the work of ants, worms, and other creatures that help the land be fertile, saturate it with oxygen, and preserve the forest on our planet. Similarly, volunteers work like ants, laboring selflessly so that the tree of freedom and victory may grow in our Ukrainian land. The energy of their life, time, strength, and health they give for our future is not visible to others. Therefore, we must recognize and honor the volunteers who help fight for freedom and life.
Bio: Yasya Shlepetska is a Ukrainian artist who lives in Slovakia. In her hometown, Dnipro, located in the East of Ukraine, she attended an art school and then studied at the university, specializing in interior design. After graduating from university, she worked as a graphic designer. During her maternity leave, while establishing herself as a mother, she reconsidered her career direction and currently works as an art therapist and a commercial artist. When the full-scale invasion in Ukraine began, Yasya was involved as a volunteer, helping refugees find housing. Thanks to her Slovak language skills, she also served as a translator between Ukrainian patients and Slovak doctors at an oncology center. Yasya has always been emotionally attached to Ukraine and honors her heritage. During the war, she created many sketches supporting Ukraine. Then she turned them into prints, postcards, and painted patriotic T-shirts because she felt art could never be separate from reality.
Link to the artist's page
Warm the universe
Anael Olga Zadorozhna
Original: acrylic painting on canvas, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 40x50cm.【№ 12】
Price (without frame): : 40€
With this painting, I wanted to express that mutual assistance can unite the world. During the first weeks of the full-scale invasion of russia into Ukraine, Ukrainian soldiers survived thanks to the help of ordinary civilians. Even older adults and small children try to help injured people and animals in any way possible. Also, thanks to mutual assistance, people learned about each other and Ukraine, an independent country with its culture and history. I will also give my example of when the idea to support artists in difficult war conditions grew into a large community of Ukrainian artists. I was one of the first to join the Uartist community created by Anna Miklashevich, and the community's volunteers and artists helped me grow as an artist. Accordingly, by selling my art, I can help others.
Bio: Ukrainian painter who started artistic activity in 2018. The most significant changes in her as an artist took place during the year of the full-scale invasion of russia into Ukraine in 2022. She wants to convey comprehensive unity, a projection of images of planet Earth, kinship and integral unification, and the transfer of what is familiar to us in a seemingly scary space. The collection "Ukraine in the Universe" includes paintings of flowers that grow territorially in our country and with which many traditions and cultures of Ukrainian people are connected for many centuries stood out.
Link to the artist's page
Steel Kindness
Alina Yanchenko
Original: oil painting on canvas, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 50x40cm. 【№ 13】
Price (without frame): 40€
The painting "Steel Kindness" is dedicated to unbreakable people who, in any situation, no matter how difficult it may be, even in war, are the strength, the support, and the rope that everyone clings to - these are volunteers. They are kind-hearted people who radiate warmth and zest for life, and at the same time, they have a "core of steel" that keeps them. The painting shows hands grasping a lifeline to survive. This rope breaks, but it holds. So are volunteers - people whose lives are like a marathon but carry so much on their shoulders. Sometimes, this burden is unbearable, but they gather their strength and step forward. They inspire and impress the whole world.
Bio: Alina Yanchenko is a Ukrainian artist from a beautiful town in Sumy region. Later, she moved to the heart of the country, Kyiv. The main style of her paintings is realism. Alina works with oil, acrylic paints, and graphic materials such as charcoal, graphite, and pastel. Her artworks often relate to personal feelings and experiences. She reflects the imprints of the present in them. Alina admires strong-willed people and, therefore, also tries to be involved in good deeds and supports volunteers trying to make Ukraine's victory closer with all their power. She is also concerned with the problem of homeless animals, feeds them, and finds them new homes.
Link to the artist's page
Be human
Anastasiia Brunnen
Original: photography, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 40x50cm. 【№ 14】
Price (without frame): 40€
This photo was taken in the city of Orihiv, which is 60 km from Zaporizhzhia. Ms. Yarova coordinates the Point of Invincibility, where residents who remained in the city found refuge. Unfortunately, on July 9, 2023, a Russian aerial bomb destroyed this building. Mrs. Yarova was there at that moment. She is currently undergoing treatment in Zaporizhzhia. Many people did not survive.
Bio: Anastasiia Brunnen was born in Zaporizhzhia, East Ukraine. Now while her home is under occupation, and the city is constantly shelled by russians she studies in Slovakia. She started shooting five years ago with a smartphone and since then she has fallen more and more in love with this art. Brunnen works in the genres of conceptual and documentary photography. Her works were exhibited in Germany at "Saarlandmuseum Moderne Galerie" and also at Sweden's "Värmlands Museum" (2023). The artist is a winner of the competition of the Volyn Press Club on the subject of the war in the section" Best Photo Story ".
Link to the artist's page
Given wings
Olha Zdorovets
Original: digital illustration, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 50x40cm. 【№ 15】
Price (without frame): : 40€
If I ask myself:" Who is a volunteer?" I'd say – this is a compassionate person who cares and strongly desires to change the world around us for the better. No matter what it could be, assistance to people, animal rescue, or environmental cleanup, common for all – is kindness, desire to create, not to destroy. I've painted a young woman, a volunteer, letting the bird with prosthesis free. The bird can fly again because of her help. This is the same feeling when someone helps us, even if we think everything is lost. We can fly again.
Bio: Olha Zdorovets is a painter from Vilnyansk, Ukraine. She liked to draw from her early childhood, but she started seriously engaging in art only a year ago. It happened after February 24, 2022, when Olha truly realized the value of human life and others. She returned home from the evacuation, where she had some experience volunteering and helping other internally displaced persons. Olha likes to paint in acrylics, draw with a simple pencil, especially portraits, and create digital illustrations. She believes that paintings serve as a key that helps you look deeply into yourself and communicate with yourself and the world, seeing the beauty even in day-to-day objects.
Link to the artist's page
Glory to Ukraine #6
Yulia Kapustynska
Original: photography, 2022.
Exhibited print on paper 50x40cm. 【№ 16】
Price (without frame): : 40€
The photo, which has an international award, describes the support. It also represents the Ukrainian people and Ukraine through the natural colors characteristic of Ukrainian symbols: the blue sky and yellow rapeseed flowers. It is impossible to move forward without helping each other. Volunteering has gained such powerful momentum in Ukraine because we understand that only by standing together and helping our country can we become one step closer to victory!
Bio: Yulia Kapustynska is a Ukrainian photographer from Kyiv. Her passion for artistic photography is expressed through an interest in modern human problems. At the same time, she is mastering the techniques of collage and Gelli Arts. From the war's first months, she participated in volunteer activities such as making stew for the Armed Forces or selling her works through the NFT marketplace. Also, Kapustynska is a member of the Women Photographers Association of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Spirit NFT Collection, and the National Society of Photographic Artists of Ukraine. She is the BIFA 2022 Gold Winner. Julia's works are presented in the Duncan Miller Gallery (Los Angeles).
Link to the artist's page
Acrobat
Olena Nahorniuk
Original: watercolor painting on paper, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 40x50cm. 【№ 17】
Price (without frame): 40€
I imagined a volunteer as an acrobat balancing on a tightrope. This rope is extremely long, just like the path of my hero. His volunteering story began so long ago that he does not remember its origin, and the world around him doesn't allow any thoughts of ever stopping. The burning flame is the pain and suffering of those who require aid from the volunteer. Long-term emotional contact with other people's pain can sear the volunteer's soul like fire burns a green field. My hero tried to balance his own needs and the needs of others, but the inevitable emotional burnout of giving everything possible left a terrible feeling of emptiness in his chest. Through sheer force of will, he stays on the rope. This unsung hero will find the strength to recover and continue his journey.
Bio: Olena Nagornyuk was born in 1990 to a family of evangelists in Ukraine. She studied painting at a children's art school and won prizes in various competitions. She observed the selfless service of her parents and joined volunteer projects. In 2013, after completing her studies at the medical university in Vinnytsia, she started working as a general practitioner. During the COVID-19 pandemic, like all medical workers, Olena had to work under challenging conditions. The constant overtime and lack of rest led to emotional burnout. Therefore, in 2020, Olena returned to painting as self-therapy. She painted landscapes with oil and watercolor paints because nature healed her wounds and gave her the strength to continue her work - restored, soothed, and inspired. With her art, the artist wants to call on all volunteers to take care of themselves, be aware of how to avoid burnout and remain effective.
Link to the artist's page
Volunteers: saving lives
Olha Matviienko
Original: watercolour on paper, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 40x50cm. 【№ 18】
Price (without frame): 40€
When russians destroyed the Kakhovka Dam, many Ukrainians headed to the Kherson region to rescue people and animals. Volunteers were saving locals and their pets, even under russian shelling. Some animal rescue organizations sent their specialists and mobile vet clinics to the Kherson region, along with food and evacuation missions. Some cat and dog shelters send volunteers to rescue and bring cats and dogs to big Ukrainian cities for adoption. In big cities, people started searching for a new furry family member from the Kherson region. Many Ukrainians were donating food and medicine for the rescued animals. Everyone wanted to help with something: money donation, sending food, joining rescue missions, or adopting those animals who lost their home. I believe the unity of our people saved many furry lives in this catastrophe. To Ukrainians, every life matters.
Bio: Kyiv-based artist Olha Matviienko, after February 24, 2022, has dedicated her art to the war in Ukraine. Initially a botanical watercolor artist, she changed her focus and watercolor technique to make her artworks speak about the current disaster in her country. In her paintings, she raises topics of war horrors. Olha feels the importance of reminding people that the war is not over and Ukraine still needs help and support to bring peace. In addition, she talks about how people deal with the situation: staying strong outside but having constant pain inside, holding on, taking care of every life, not only people but also animals, rejecting their usual everyday lives to devote their time and effort to those who desperately need it.
Link to the artist's page
Worldwide Support
Olha Trikolich
Original: oil painting on canvas, 2022.
Exhibited print on paper 40x30cm. 【№ 19】
Price (without frame): 30€
Every day in Ukraine, people are left without a home after being shelled by russian military rockets. They are forced to find a new home for their family every day. Volunteers help them with this. They find habitable houses, help with food and clothes, and find a job in a new city. Volunteers work tirelessly to provide the necessary moral, psychological, and material support to people affected by the war. This is a big, friendly family.
Bio: Olha Trikolich lives and works in Kiliya, Ukraine. She began her career with a highly traditional classical approach to art but then began to experience and explore the possibilities and depth of different techniques. Now she works in contemporary painting trends, combining various painting techniques. Her primary materials are oil, charcoal, and oil pastels. Since the War in Ukraine began, Olha has been actively involved in charity programs and exhibitions to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine and charitable foundations. Thus, her works were sold at the charity exhibition "Support Ukraine NFT-Gallery" in Kyiv, Ukraine, at the "Dante's Day with Ukraine" exhibition at Ravenna Art Gallery in Rivne, Ukraine, for the charity fund "Come Back Alive" and at the local auctions to help volunteers.
Link to the artist's page
Volunteer Soul
Natalia Synegina
Original: photo of the sculptural composition, solidifying plasticine, 2022.
Exhibited print on paper 40x50cm. 【№ 20】
Price (without frame): 40€
Tits are peaceful birds, just as those who volunteer to help protect Ukraine had been in their previous lives. Tiny tits with colorful yellow and blue plumage can look like cute, helpless birds. But they deserve tremendous respect; they stay home during the darkest period of the year and are not afraid to die. And when the enemy comes to their homeland, they develop new skills. They source the best equipment, tactical medicine, and drones. Our volunteers are like this tiny tit, growing fangs to fight for the freedom and life of each Ukrainian on the frontline or in a city under ongoing shelling. After the victory, they hope to become peace-loving birds in a peaceful homeland again. But hundreds of thousands of saved (and lost) lives will forever remain a part of the tit's soul.
Bio: Natalia Synegina is a Ukrainian illustrator, artist, and sculptor. She works in various techniques and materials, but professionally she makes illustrations and story compositions in plasticine (as you can see in her piece, "Volunteer Soul"). Now she wants to focus her art on bas-relief illustrations made of hardenable plasticine, oil paintings, and prints for clothes. Natalia is originally from Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region, she lived in Dnipro for 15 years, in Kyiv for three years, and now she has been living in the Czech Republic for another two years. She strongly believes in an excellent future for Ukraine and that Ukrainian people have a lot of talents that should be shown to the world. Natalia hopes that the volunteer movement will only expand and cover new areas to help Ukraine develop in the future.
Link to the artist's page
Weaving Ukraine Together
Oleksandra Oliinyk
Original: acrylic on canvas, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 70x50cm. 【№ 21】
Price (without frame): 50€
When I contemplated volunteering, an image of threads came to my mind. It's as though all of us—those within Ukraine, those who have left, and even foreign volunteers—are weaving a new Ukraine right now through our actions, thoughts, creativity, assistance... We are crafting its culture and a new mentality that will serve as an example for the world. Like silkworms, we quietly and almost imperceptibly weave our delicate thread, creating a more extensive, shared picture. That's why I depicted a loom—a traditional tool for crafting fabric—still used in some parts of Ukraine. At the heart of the ornament lies the "Alatyr"—the oldest Slavic symbol of the sun, creative and divine power, and protection. Intertwined branches, poppy flowers, and ears of wheat symbolize prosperity, abundance, freedom, and our dream of a Flourishing Homeland.
Bio: Oleksandra Oliinik was born in Dnipro, Ukraine. After studying architecture, she worked as an interior designer, florist, mural artist, promo and game designer. For the last five years, she has had her own clothing and accessories brand with hand-painted designs, creating custom images in unique styles and selling them worldwide. When the war began, she wove protective nets, prepared food for displaced people, and helped other volunteers. In early 2022, she moved to Germany with her two young daughters and started painting on canvases. She expresses life and beauty in the corner of her small apartment's bedroom by carrying the Ukrainian flag of peace and kindness. Oleksandra works in a mixed technique, like expressive realism. She participated in local fairs and other volunteer projects to raise money to help Ukraine, organized her festival of Ukrainian culture, and held a solo art exhibition."
Link to the artist's pageArtworks that were exhibited during the first exposition. They are still for sale
Synergy
Alina Lobanova
Original: watercolour and acrylic painting on canvas, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper, size: 70x50 cm. 【№ 22】
Price (without frame): 50€.
Strength is in support! People support and care for each other, knowing they are more robust together. They are giving the most valuable, their power, resource, and time. But this resource is exhausted sooner or later, and emotional burnout occurs. Like every person, a volunteer needs to remember to rest and recharge. Like-minded volunteers with shared pain become excellent support for each other. When one burns out, the other fills the space, creating synergy. Joint efforts exchange of ideas, resources, and knowledge contribute to strengthening the volunteer community and developing society. And it helps to build a positive working environment, support, and mutual understanding between volunteers, which can increase their motivation and enthusiasm for the activity. I created my work about the harmony of teamwork, which was performed in the watercolor layering technique, where each layer of paint symbolizes experiences and emotions a person receives.
Bio: Alina Lobanova was born in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. She holds an Undergraduate degree from the Erdeli College of Arts. Alina began her artistic career with illustrations and published two books with children's illustrations. In 2019, she participated in the 27th Biennale of Illustration in Slovakia. Since 2019, she has worked as an art teacher at an out-of-school institution. In her practice, she works mainly in abstract figurative paintings on canvas. Alina's works merge reality with the subconscious sphere through abstraction and expression. She works in mixed media with semi-dry and expressive strokes. Or in watercolor using the technique of layering. These opposite techniques fully characterize her contradictory nature.
Link to the artist's page
Volunteer's Touch
Yuliia Ustymenko
Original: oil painting on canvas, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 40x50cm. 【№ 23】
Price (without frame): : 40€
Have you ever heard of Kintsugi? It's a captivating Japanese technique that delicately restores broken pottery using lacquer mixed with gold powder. In the hands of a skilled master, a fractured object emerges with a new lease of life. Kintsugi celebrates the beauty of scars that shape our identities. For me, this art mirrors the essence of volunteering. It's not just about assisting. It's about showing empathy for others' pain and honoring their resilience. The painting "Volunteer's Touch" is a tribute to Ukrainian volunteer Victoria Gusarova, who has devoted the last ten years to rescuing wild birds. Falcons, hawks, owls, storks, hoopoes... Many avian species with complex injuries and diseases find refuge in her. I am in awe of Victoria's unwavering determination and dedication as she passionately fights for every life. And she prevails! Thanks to her, numerous birds once destined for death now soar freely in the skies again.
Bio: Yuliia Ustymenko, a Ukrainian artist specializing in oil paintings, embraces an exquisite fusion of gold leaf, structural paste, and pigments to infuse her artworks with opulence and luminosity. Her artistic repertoire revolves around animal portraits and colorful abstractions. She deftly weaves strands of philosophy or humor within them, intending to elicit genuine emotions in her audience. The artist lives in Bucha, a small town near the Ukrainian capital, which the whole world has learned about because of the atrocity of the russian army. Her family miraculously survived, but the tragedy left a deep scar. It rendered her unable to paint for over a year. Yet, through volunteering, Yuliia restored her inner equilibrium. Volunteering daily is her source of solace, transforming grief, fear, and anger into gratitude, love, and hope. Now, once again, her canvases come alive with colors, and she believes in the victory of Ukraine.
Link to the artist's page
New World
Olha Trikolich
Original: oil painting on canvas, 2022.
Exhibited print on paper 40x30cm. 【№ 24】
Price (without frame): 30€
I painted women's confusion with their children without a home, clothes, food, or money, just in the middle of the street. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, volunteers have been working with such women and children. They provide psychological, moral, and physical assistance, help them find accommodation and temporary jobs, and adapt to the New World—a world in the middle of a war.
Bio: Olha Trikolich lives and works in Kiliya, Ukraine. She began her career with a highly traditional classical approach to art but then began to experience and explore the possibilities and depth of different techniques. Now she works in contemporary painting trends, combining various painting techniques. Her primary materials are oil, charcoal, and oil pastels. Since the War in Ukraine began, Olha has been actively involved in charity programs and exhibitions to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine and charitable foundations. Thus, her works were sold at the charity exhibition "Support Ukraine NFT-Gallery" in Kyiv, Ukraine, at the "Dante's Day with Ukraine" exhibition at Ravenna Art Gallery in Rivne, Ukraine, for the charity fund "Come Back Alive" and at the local auctions to help volunteers.
Link to the artist's page
The Space of Caring
Evgenia Poberezhna
Original: analog collage, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 50x70cm. 【№ 25】
Price (without frame): 50€
"The Space of Caring" is my view of volunteering as an endless movement of kindness and devotion in Ukraine and worldwide. It is a space where there is always respect for life. Filled with compassion and love, it enables people to get help and feel safe. Today this is especially important for every Ukrainian. By using collage in my work, I wanted to emphasize the multi-component and complexity of the theme. I tried simultaneously expressing simplicity, sincerity, and a rich emotional component. Volunteers are people who, like everyone else, do not have extra time and inexhaustible energy but have open, kind hearts. And they continue to make sacrifices daily by really giving, by giving of themselves. I hope my work will help spread awareness of the importance of volunteering as a powerful and precious activity for Ukraine and the world!
Bio: Evgenia Poberezhna is a Ukrainian artist. She was born in 1985 in Crimea. She lives and works in the Kyiv area. 2007 she received her bachelor's degree in graphic design from the Crimea State Humanitarian University in Yalta at the Faculty of Arts. Since the beginning of the war, he has been actively involved in various charity exhibitions supporting Ukraine. Evgenia's work focuses on people. Her practice explores certain moments of life and what they are made of. She draws on themes of childhood, family, growing up, and female nature as a foundation for these explorations. Her primary modes of expression are oil painting, drawing, mixed media, and collage.
Link to the artist's page
Being strong
Karina Danylchuk
Original: watercolor painting on paper, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 50x40cm. 【№ 26】
Price (without frame): 40€
You can't save everyone and everything—human lives, animals, affected people, buildings, and culture. And even when many people are volunteering for months or years, it does not produce an ideal result. I guess the solution is to focus on a problem you can handle. You have to make a choice, perhaps the most difficult of your life. Sometimes volunteers must be solid not to dwell on how many people, animals, and everything we have already lost. They have to focus on those who they can still save.
Bio: Karina Danylchuk, Ukrainian artist, born in Mykolaiv region, based in Kyiv. She started her art career in 2018, and in 2021, she showed her artwork at the first exhibition in the Khmelnytskyi region. In 2022 Karina continued her activity, participating in Ukrainian and international group exhibitions (Slovenia, Poland). In 2022-2023 she volunteered as a content maker for the Ukrainian artists' community Uartist. Karina works with watercolor as a medium to express how fragile the bird and nature are. She depicts the unique personality of each bird in the most delicate fashion.
Link to the artist's page
The one that gives warmth
Olha Nazarenko
Original: watercolor painting on paper, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 50x40cm. 【№ 27】
Price (without frame): 40€
The artwork shows a volunteer who never even thought she was doing volunteer work. She keeps doing it. She knits socks of different varieties daily: warm, thick, thinner, extra wide, in different colors, etc. She also makes tons of children’s socks, knowing an unimaginable number of children need socks to keep themself warm. The most important thing to remember when knitting these socks is to ensure that the thread used is 100% natural. Villagers collect warm sweaters and bring them to this incredible person to be turned into socks. Additionally, this woman uses a substantial portion of her pension to purchase more thread. This painting is of my mom.
Bio: Olha Nazarenko was born in a small village in the Poltava region in Ukraine. She was intrigued by the beauty of the forest, rivers, and vast fields. Olha started drawing in childhood until she began her studies in college in Mirgorod. There, she learned ceramics, sculpting, and still-life painting. Her watercolor paintings frequently depict nature, and all that surrounds her. Her statement as an artist is to evoke an emotion and leave an imprinted feeling or a memory through her paintings, expressing all that is preserved, unharmed, and innocent is most important. Olha also often paints people. In those paintings, she tries to express character and emotion. She exhibited her paintings for charity.
Link to the artist's page
Thread for thread
Natalka Nechay
Original: acrylic painting on canvas, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 50x40cm. 【№ 28】
Price (without frame): 40€
I wanted to tell about women, a whole army of women who, from the first days of the russian agression, stood on their front line for help. Many of them are already 70 or 80 years old or even older! They survived the artificial famine and repression created by the Soviet Union and the horrors of the Second World War. They survived, preserved their land and love for the Motherland - and now the war has come again!... Now they prepare dry rations and goodies, make trench candles and medicinal ointments for healing wounds, weave camouflage nets and special "Kikimori" clothes for our dearest defenders - how much strength and health is enough! Thread by thread, strand by strand - difficult memories are pouring out, and at the same time, the work is progressing. Volunteering is about great LOVE.
Bio: Nataliya Nechay is a Ukrainian painter with extensive experience working mainly in book graphics, although now she is more focused on easel painting. More than 30 books have handmade illustrations by Natalia. The artist has an original technique of working with acrylic on canvas. Landscapes and still lifes, as well as an in-depth look at contemporaries, are topics that fascinate and find embodiment in the works of the author. With the beginning of a large-scale war, the family had to leave Kyiv region for several months to the west of Ukraine. The artist's daughter became a volunteer in 2014 from the first days of russian aggression. After the death of her beloved husband during the defense of the Kyiv region, volunteering became her way of life. We are bringing the Victory of Ukraine closer so that the heavy losses on the way to Freedom are not in vain.
Link to the artist's page
Illuminating Pathways
Maryna Karapetian
Original: acrylic painting on canvas, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 40x50cm. 【№ 29】
Price (without frame): 40€
In my painting I explore the profound impact of volunteering in pursuit of freedom and life. The artwork portrays an amalgamation of yellow brushstrokes that symbolize the diverse individuals who come together to contribute their efforts for a common cause. Like a mighty stream, they unite and flow forward, radiating light and hope. I firmly believe that our society can only thrive when individuals align their actions with their values and take an active stance, embarking on a journey to do what is right and just. "Illuminating Pathways" serves as a visual call to action, encouraging viewers to join this powerful volunteer movement to create a future where compassion and courage lead the way toward a world where freedom and life prevail for all.
Bio: Maryna Karapetian is an emerging artist born in Donetsk, Ukraine, now living and working in Malmö, Sweden. As an abstract expressionist, she explores the complexities of the human experience through bold and dynamic compositions. Her main interest lies in capturing emotions, states, and memories in her paintings, and she firmly believes that abstract art can be a powerful means of expressing the intangible. Maryna primarily works with acrylics. Her process is often spontaneous and intuitive, allowing her to fully immerse herself in creating raw and vulnerable works. Through the use of colors and expressive brushwork, her goal is to evoke a sense of energy and movement that speaks to the authentic nature of the human experience.
Link to the artist's page
Our Children`22
Lusi Bogdanowicz
Original: Sculptural felting, wool, 2022.
Exhibited print on paper 40x50cm. 【№ 30】
Price (without frame): 40€
It combines two birds. One is losing its strength and can no longer fly alone – these are our little children, injured and orphaned. The second bird is our volunteering children, spies, and assistants. They hold on by themselves and still have enough strength to help others. They are capable of staying calm, not sowing panic. They sing, draw, cook, collect money, and show people by my example endurance and faith in our victory. They are still able to be not only a reliable rear guard but also stand up for our native land. The strength of their spirit is inspiring!
Bio: Lusi Bogdanowicz is an artist and designer born in Kryvyi Rih (Ukraine) and now lives in Poland. She started to feel from the wool in 2016, primarily using a mixed felting technique, needle felting, and wet felting. She works with many materials - wood and stones- and adds them to sculptures. But she has been focusing primarily on wool in natural colors. It is essential for her not to use dyes. Despite such a difficult time, she still participates in international exhibitions and fairs to develop the culture of our country. It is her way of fighting the occupiers. So she started volunteering, which was a great distraction from the news. The feeling of being needed gave her a sense of security, as if nothing could happen to her until she completed all her tasks.
Link to the artist's page
Ukrainian volunteer Marianna
Tetiana Fomenko
Original: photography, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 40x50cm. 【№ 31】
Price (without frame): : 40€
This is a portrait of Ukrainian volunteer Marianna Perepelytsina, who has been making camouflage nets since 2014. The photo was taken in our volunteer room in Kyiv. Marianna is a master of author's dolls and, in 2014, joined a volunteer group that still makes camouflage nets. Marianna devotes all her free time to volunteering. Camouflage nets are made by hand. Many Ukrainians have been helping Ukrainian defenders since the beginning of the war in 2014. One of the types of assistance is the production of camouflage nets. Camouflage nets protect military equipment, dugouts, and positions of Ukrainian defenders. In this way, Ukrainian volunteers safeguard the lives of soldiers.
Bio: Tetiana Fomenko was born in Kharkiv and now lives in Kyiv. Her favorite genres are street photography and minimalist photography. Fomenko participated in Ukrainian photo exhibitions and International photo contests. She is a silver&bronze winner of TIFA-2022. Tetiana has been volunteering to make camouflage nets for the Ukrainian Army since 2014.
Link to the artist's page
Those who give hope
Olha Malko
Original: watercolour painting on paper, 2023.
Exhibited print on paper 50x40cm. 【№ 32】
Price (without frame): 40€
Those who give hope. They are among us and give hope to animals, people, and me that humanity will not fall into the abyss of heartlessness, cruelty, and profit. They are like Atlanteans who come to help in a difficult moment, carrying the burden of the world on their shoulders. They keep faith in humanity. The creation of this work was inspired by Ukrainian volunteers who helped the residents of Irpin to leave the city during the russian invasion in 2022. Thanks to them, women, children, elderly people, and domestic animals were transported across the destroyed bridge over the Irpin River under constant fire. My work is a letter of thanks to everyone who supports the needy in this incredibly difficult time.
Bio: Olha Malko lives and works in Moryntsi village in Ukraine. She is an artist not by education but by vocation. Olha studied pharmacy at Zaporizhzhia State Medical University. She went to a children’s art school when she was a child. And she has painted, taken classes, and been self-educating all these years. Olha Malko works primarily in watercolor but also oil. She painted many original watercolor and oil pictures, created hundreds of digital designs on transparent backgrounds for printing, and illustrated a few books for kids. She has had a few solo exhibitions and taken part in group ones. Her artworks are in many private collections over the world."
Link to the artist's page