My Art Story

I was born and grew up in the capital city of Ukraine (Kiev). At that time Ukraine was a part of the Soviet Union, so I guess I grew up in a regular Soviet family. My parents were both engineers and we shared a household with my grandparents.

 Since I was a little girl I was fascinated by colors. I loved looking at the changes in color that happened everywhere. Like when the sun beam would hit a leaf and the dark green color would turn into glowing, almost yellow, transparent gorges ness or when I squeezed my fingers together and looked through them towards the light the intense red outline would appears. Guess what? It still appears and I still love it. I was also fascinated by forms the shapes. Even simple ones like squares, circles and triangles seemed to have a character. Depending where I would draw them on paper the drawing would appear balanced, uplifting, peaceful or angry. This simple magic of colors and shaped made all the difference for my parents to have some quiet time. Since I was a very active and impatient child, they were lucky to discover the way to keep me busy for hours. All they had to do is give me pencils, paper, paints, chalks and clay. I don’t know what gave me patience, but I seemed to lose myself in shapes, colors and stories. I felt so happy and proud when I would show the finished drawings to my parents and grandparents and they would act surprised and amazed at what I had done. I loved seeing them enjoy my little creations.

 So, I just kept creating and when I was five my artwork was selected to be published in the “Pre-School Education” magazine. My parents considered putting me through a specialized art school, but it did not go as planned. My aunt died and we moved to a different part of town to take my cousin into our family. There was no art school nearby so I went to a regular school and got heavily involved in ice skating instead.
In school I faced a lot of rules that were stagnant to the creative mind. Fake perfection, fed by the corrupt system did not allow much room for self expression within the standard norm. I started to question things only to find out that we were slaves of this system. I rebelled, I wanted to change things, I wanted to be free, I hated that somebody out there was controlling my life without any care of what I thought, what I wanted, or what was inspiring to me. I stayed involved in ice skating and focused on being an "A" student, since my parents told me it was the only way to beat the system and be free to travel abroad so I could know the things other than the usual propaganda that we were fed. I still did art projects for the school but it always had to fit something I did not care about. I observed that even talented and known people had a very difficult time making a living in expressive arts because the system would not tolerate raw creative expressions. A lot of the artists were underground and were not supported financially unless portraying politically convenient ideals.

 “Look at the nature, it will teach you everything you want to know about art” said my great uncle Nikolay Boychenko as he put a paint brush into my hands. A painter quite known in the art circles in Kiev he had always encouraged and inspired me. His work is so beautiful that I always assumed he got his art degree from some fancy school. It was a surprise to find out that he actually was not allowed to go to art school because he was a son of political prisoner. My great grandfather fought in the White Army during the revolution, later was repressed and sent to prison camp in Siberia for his political views. He never returned. In the 1930’s when Ukraine was suffering through starvation imposed by Stalin’s regime, young Nikolay started his art career. The materials he used were old newspapers and flowers… After he had already become an established artist and had created dozens of mural size portraits for the Communist Party leaders he got his art degree. It’s a sad story, but so inspiring. A self-taught genius, he became my role model.

 When I was sixteen I suffered an illness which was related to the accident at the nuclear plant in Chernobyl. My parents started looking for a chance for me to leave the country and escape the radioactive contamination. Family friends in the United States presented an opportunity for me to come and study in America and my parents paid their life savings for the ticket to the U.S. My life has changed forever. As the years went by I was overwhelmed by the possibilities that became available to me. I tried so many things, I learned, I struggled, I questioned life and my motives, I went back to the Ukraine and studied with the leading artists in Kiev, I compared different cultures, I tried to understand, to survive, to heal, to spread my wings, to adjust, to deal with completely different systems. I have met amazing people and I know I can not deny that art is my form of communication to the world. I am grateful for the opportunity that I have to share the jewels that I have found on my life's path that have helped me to overcome the obstacles, expand my visions, open my heart, and bring me true happiness through my art, so others could be inspired to find what is extraordinary in their lives. My intention is that the art I create will become a tool for someone to get closer to their dream and live an amazing life.

Love, Tatyana