Grown-up philosophy of childhood
Artist Kateryna Dudnyk offers to look at the world through kind, light, and vivid colors
Adults are still children, but most of them forgot about the power of observation and ability to see miracles in everything. Artist Kateryna Dudnyk creates her “childish” paintings not for children, because they perceive the world of her works as something usual and natural. These paintings are for grown-ups, because they awake the joy of living, tell them anew that it is possible to fly in their dreams and make discoveries. Every painting made by Dudnyk is a huge world that cannot be comprehended at once.
The exhibition “The World Upside Down” presents a gallery of unique original puppets created by leading Ukrainian puppet-makers. Dudnyk’s works are also displayed there.
“When my son was born in 2003, angels and babies appeared in my paintings. Harlequins and snails, which I was very fond of before, made place for them,” the artist says. “It was my defense mechanism for all cruel, aggressive, and not romantic cartoons that appeared on TV. I wanted to create something light, artistic, something that attunes people to good, brings up the best in them.”
Soon, such direction of work became Dudnyk’s conscious philosophy for adults that helped them remember about childhood, believe in miracles, and never stop dreaming. The artist wrote in her diary once: “There are no 100 percent grown-up people, as there are no 100 percent children. We all come from the world of fairy tales, the world with the brightest dreams, where the air is soaked with fantasies. The main thing is to never forget about the child inside while growing up, remain open-hearted, loving, and always ready to see miracles while becoming wiser.” Today, this is the artist’s creed.
Dudnyk was born in 1982 in Izmail. Love to art was cultivated from early childhood, which she spent in her father’s studio. This became a determining factor when it came to choosing a profession. Her first teacher was her father, while her mother was the source of inspiration for all the works. Dudnyk received primary art education at the Taras Shevchenko State Art School, and higher education at the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture, Department of Fine Arts.
Dudnyk participated in numerous exhibitions, and this gave the young artist confidence in herself, recognition, and incentive to create more. Now her personal exhibitions are organized in Ukraine, Georgia, and Russia.
Once, Dudnyk was called Hapchynska’s clone. At first, she was offended, but then she realized: there still are very few artists of this kind. “Galleries often require something abstract. But my paintings cannot be classified as either classic or modern art. And this is a good thing, because it means I create something unique,” Dudnyk says.
The artist moved from Kyiv to a small town in the Crimea two years ago. Thus, her dream of living at the seaside came true. Now she has a big seafront studio of her own.
Dudnyk’s works can be viewed at the Parsuna Gallery in Podil, 43 Khoryva Street. It is open every day.
Photo replicas provided by the author
