Close the sky
Picture this: yesterday I cycled past banks of yellow daffodils under a clear blue sky into central London to drop some flyers into my painting exhibition, and after to meet a friend for lunch. Later as I cycled home, the skies darkened and started to rain. I hoped it wouldn’t rain too hard.
Cut to: my counterpart in Ukraine, Alena Kuznetsova, also an abstract painter, who last week escaped from Kyiv because her home city was being bombed to smithereens, leaving behind her studio, her paintings, sculptures, plants and life as she knew it. Under a leaden sky that weighed heavily with the threat of missile attack, she and her family drove terrifying slowly through endless traffic jams to eventually get to Lviv on the West of the country. There she prayed they might be safe.
Two artists in Europe; one going about her daily life, the other in fear of her life. This is our world. This podcast episode is our joint plea to close the skies and stop the war.
Close the skies
Imagine being so scared of attack that your country begs the rest of the world to close their skies so that they might have some protection. Alena tells me her story for Brave New Girl podcast over the telephone from Lviv.
This week’s guest is Alena Kuznetsova, one of Ukraine’s leading contemporary artists, who had to flee Kyiv when Russia invaded her country, leaving behind all her paintings and sculptures. We spoke when she managed to get to Lviv, where she was able to stay with a friend to regroup and decided what she was going to do next.
Having escaped to Lviv, Alena was able to talk about how in the first few days of the Russian invasion she thought she might be able to stay in Kyiv. But soon with incoming missiles detonating near her studio, it became clear she and her family couldn't stay.
Born in Russia with a Russian father, she had come to Ukraine at the age of 5 years old and obtained her passport at 16. When Russia invaded, it was as a Ukrainian that she united with her people is standing up against their oppressor.
As an artist Alena had developed a distinctive abstract style and a distinguished reputation, but now in the midst of war it is her citizenship that matters more; politics and saving her country over the loss of her studio and her paintings.
But she needs to survive, and fortunately she has the digital versions of her work which she can sell through Saatchi Art who represent her. This is a way that the rest of us can help her and other artists like her; by buying fine art prints through the online website, drop-shipped straight to us, no matter where Alena finds herself in the coming months.
She is determined to stay in Ukraine, if she can, to help make Ukraine's art and culture not only survive this war but rise up even stronger from the ashes.
Thanks so much Alena for sharing your personal story, and perspective of what is happening within your country on the ground. I pray that the world unites in giving Ukraine and its people the support they need to secure their freedom and the future of their sovereignty.
Thanks also for showing us how to be resilient in the face of a force that doesn’t have our best interests in its heart.
You can buy fine art prints of Alena’s work on www.saatchiart.com/alenakuznetsova and follow her on Instagram @Kuznetsova_artist
Support Alena
You can buy fine art prints of Alena’s work to help her survive.
Get your story into the world to share your message or inspire others by guesting on podcasts. You can learn the art-form in a course I have created for you HERE