“Soul of Ukrainian Clothing”

The artist has worked for the past few years on the exhibit of series of graphic works and paintings in the project “Soul of Ukrainian Clothing,” which is dedicated to national costumes. The artist became fond of Ukrainian culture and ethnography long ago and says that her passion began with love to different images which have been typical of the country for a long time. That is how she created nearly 20 amazing portraits of modern girls and women in national costumes which have unique shapes and subtle decorative supplement for specific regions of the 19th – early 20th centuries.

For example, Boiko region in the exposition is represented by a young girl wearing a festive home-woven embroidered linen shirt, flowery vest of green cloth, a colorful headscarf, under which fair hair peeps out. Pokuttia (south-eastern part of present-day Ivano-Frankivsk oblast) stands out in the image of a married woman in traditional local snow-white shirt and kybalka (a traditional female headwear), embroidered mainly with red fiber. The author created an image of a young girl who represents Zakarpattia in an elegant multilayer dress made of factory-made cloth of sky blue color, and covered with golden flowers. The image of a dreamy girl from Cherkasy region is very life-asserting: a huge pretty wreath with ribbons, a silver-white shirt decorated with rich embroidery and traditional multilayer necklace. The representative of Kyiv region is outstanding in its folk simplicity: a one-piece sleeve blouse, decorated with two-color embroidery (traditionally black and red), broadened cherry vest (kersetka), wide skirt made of bright-green factory-made clothes and decorated with a white apron with embroidered flowers. Incidentally, this is the only girl depicted by Kateryna Biletina barefoot, whereas the rest of the girls wear traditional boots, shoes, and postoly (leather footwear). Remarkably, the experts, in particular, representatives of Kyiv-based Mykhailo Boichuk State Institute of Decorative-Applied Art and Design noted that the reason is that most likely Kyiv region was a traditionally poor region.

Commenting on her works, Kateryna told that the models whose portraits are on display at the expositions in their everyday lives have never worn any authentic clothing. In her works Biletina tried to show the variety of forms and artistic decisions of Ukrainian costume, trace the mutual effect and connections, making at the same time reconstruction of these national costumes namely in artistic form. Like the author explained, above all she used as the basis the aesthetics of art nouveau and works of most famous Ukrainian illustrators, Kateryna Shtanko and Vladyslav Yerko.

AMAZING PORTRAITS OF MODERN GIRLS AND WOMEN IN NATIONAL COSTUMES. THIS IS RICH, VIVID PAINTING, PRECISE DRAWING, THE TRADITIONAL COLOR SCHEME, AND THE FINEST CHIAROSCURO

“Nearly in all houses in the corners of family wardrobes an embroidered shirt, an embroidered towel, or a woven ribbon is kept. Now the galleries are promoting modern art, but I would like to show that art in classic ways is no less interesting, it has the right to exist,” the artist noted.

Kateryna Biletina graduated from Odesa-based Grekov School of Art, where for five years she studied in the studio of famous Vitalii Alikberov, later – the National Academy of Pictorial Art and Architecture in Kyiv. Besides portrait, Kateryna also works in other genres of painting: she creates wonderful landscapes and genres, and also illustrated children’s books.

The works that are easily recognized show the talent of the artist, her amazing ability to see the essence of things, characters of people. Kateryna Biletina’s works are regularly exhibited in Ukraine and Europe, adorn many private collections all over the world.