This is a picture of 3 long (portait-oriented) pixel designs based on Ukrainian embroidery. The banner on the left is mainly black with designs based on moths. The middle piece is red and black geometric design with bird imagery. The piece on the right is + Enlarge
Ukrainian Banners 2021 Digital - Pixel
This design starts at the top with a plant - the swallow wort - strangling a ribbon of the Ukrainian flag colors. The plant becomes withered and the ribbon breaks free, opening up to a mainly orange, green, and red geometric pattern, featuring the silhoue + Enlarge
Perseverance Banner 2021 Digital - Pixel
This design starts at the top with a plant - the swallow wort - strangling a ribbon of the Ukrainian flag colors. The plant becomes withered and the ribbon breaks free, opening up to a mainly orange, green, and red geometric pattern, featuring the silhoue + Enlarge
Perseverance Banner detail 01 2021 Digital - Pixel
This design starts at the top with a plant - the swallow wort - strangling a ribbon of the Ukrainian flag colors. The plant becomes withered and the ribbon breaks free, opening up to a mainly orange, green, and red geometric pattern, featuring the silhoue + Enlarge
Perseverance Banner detail 02 2021 Digital - Pixel
This piece is a vertical pixel design that starts at the top with a geometric pattern in a rainbow of colors with a red background. As the pattern continues down the banner, the pattern loses the rainbow accents and becomes only red and black. The bottom + Enlarge
Erasure Banner 2021 Digital - Pixel
This piece is a vertical pixel design that starts at the top with a geometric pattern in a rainbow of colors with a red background. As the pattern continues down the banner, the pattern loses the rainbow accents and becomes only red and black. The bottom + Enlarge
Erasure Banner detail 01 2021 Digital - Pixel
This piece is a vertical pixel design that starts at the top with a geometric pattern in a rainbow of colors with a red background. As the pattern continues down the banner, the pattern loses the rainbow accents and becomes only red and black. The bottom + Enlarge
Erasure Banner detail 02 2021 Digital - Pixel
This piece is a vertical pixel design with a white to tan gradient background and bright blue and red flower design. The flowers start vibrant at the top and slowly wither down until they reach a skeleton sitting at the bottom of the banner who is eating + Enlarge
Holodomor Banner 2021 Digital - Pixel
This piece is a vertical pixel design with a white to tan gradient background and bright blue and red flower design. The flowers start vibrant at the top and slowly wither down until they reach a skeleton sitting at the bottom of the banner who is eating + Enlarge
Holodomor Banner detail 01 2021 Digital - Pixel
This piece is a vertical pixel design with a white to tan gradient background and bright blue and red flower design. The flowers start vibrant at the top and slowly wither down until they reach a skeleton sitting at the bottom of the banner who is eating + Enlarge
Holodomor Banner detail 02 2021 Digital - Pixel
Statement

My art featured is based on my personal Ukrainian heritage and the tragic and largely unknown history of the Ukrainian people. I create embroidery designs through pixel art to make pieces that could be used in physical embroidery but can also stand as a story on their own. My inspiration for using pixel art came from the mapping process involved in embroidery and other fiber media. I found that creating the pixel patterns allowed me to create embroidery maps that also functioned as full art pieces. Unlike many other cultures, Ukrainian embroidery continues the pixelated forms past the planning stage which the pixel art can call reference to.

My process starts with extensive research on a historical event or embroidery theme and builds into a full story through traditional symbolism and regional-inspired colors. This semester, I created three banners to tell the stories about the history of Ukraine and my relation to it. I talk about the loss of culture perpetuated by Russia and the Red Scare. I also touch on Holodomor, the famine created by Stalin that killed millions of Ukrainians. And finally, the strength and persistence of the Ukrainian people which has grasped their roots even through suffering and manipulation. My designs weave together traditional Ukrainian symbolism and channel the anger and grief caused by these events to bring awareness and take a stance against the erasure of Ukrainian culture.

General Fine Arts (BFA) Students