2014: Per aspera ad astra

It can be said that the placard created by Marichka Yurchak, an artist, a journalist of the Internet newspaper Ternopislka lypa (Ternopil Linden), and a postgraduate student of the Ternopil-based National Hnatiuk Pedagogical University, caused a furor among the users of social networks. It is called 2014: Per aspera ad astra and depicts a wounded hand which holds an EU symbol in the background of Ukrainian national flag. The author told The Day that she, like any Ukrainian, is worried about the current events in the state; therefore she created the picture spontaneously, following the impulse of her heart. “I am anxious very much about the events in our state and Ukraine’s movement to Europe: either in terms of signing the Association Agreement with the EU or in terms of creation of Europe in our own country. As we can see, the path is very painful and thorny. Ukrainian’s hand grasps the stars, but is injured by this goal and dream. And the stain of blood that runs into the palm has the contours of the Crimean peninsula. The result is symbolical, because namely in the Crimea the situation that started with Ukrainians’ support of the Euromaidan became the most acute,” Yurchak emphasizes. “I am historian by profession, at the moment I am a postgraduate student, and the topic of my Ph.D. thesis is ‘Evolution of relations: Ukraine – the EU.’ So, this was probably another impetus to creation of this placard.”

When asked whether there will be a series of works dedicated to this topic, the artist says that by this she does not aim to win popularity, so she will hardly continue. “Actually, I am a portraitist, I paint watercolor cityscapes of Ternopil, illustrate books, and my graphic works are symbolical. I mean, I prefer ‘calm’ plots, and revolution is not my topic, it is not my state of soul, I would say,” Yurchak notes.

Although launched virtually on the Internet, the original work 2014: Per aspera ad astra, executed with acrylics on canvas, will be for the first time on display in the end of March at the artistic festival “Yi” in Ternopil.