Inspired by the faces she saw on the coverage of the war in Ukraine, and determined to do something to express her anger, Cornwall artist Louise Pasterfield did the only thing she knew how to do, she reached for her paint brushes.
Portraits of Resilience : strengths and struggles of Ukrainian people at war
Now Portraits of Resilience, an exhibition of watercolour paintings documenting the strengths and struggles of Ukrainian people at war, opens in Truro Cathedral on Saturday17 August for ten days.
It is designed to coincide with Ukrainian Independence Day, 24 August.
Louise’s first portrait was a painting of a Ukrainian woman called Valentina whose backyard had just been hit by artillery. Her painting was based on a photograph taken by New York Times photographer Lynsey Addario.
Louise posted it on Instagram four days after the invasion. Little did she know the impact her portraits would have with hundreds of messages from the wives, mothers, daughters, husbands, fathers, sons, and friends of the people she’d painted all wanting to thank her for “not forgetting” about Ukraine and to ask if they could have prints of the paintings.
“Ukrainians have been sending me photographs they have taken, asking if I would paint them,” said Louise.
“One woman sent me a photo that she took of her two-year-old daughter on the second day of the war. It was taken in the basement of their house in the Kharkiv region. They had no electricity, no heating, no water, and outside, the Russian army was all around them. In the photograph, her daughter is painting by candlelight, wrapped up against the cold.
“Other people have sent me photos of family members who have died in the war. One woman sent me a photo of her father who died near Bakhmut, asking me if I could paint it. That was very moving.”
Louise spotted a video on social media of one of the defenders of Mariupol being reunited with his wife after he was released from Russian captivity. Her painting of the couple, inspired by the short clip, brought this message from the woman:
“You have painted one of the most important moments of my life.”
Some of her paintings were also featured online by Vogue UA, Elle UA and Ukraine Artists on Instagram and all the photographers are credited for their original work. Many have messaged Louise to praise her for her paintings.
“It’s the first time, in a war, where we’ve had all these images coming out,” said Louise, “there were just so many images. When I started getting comments, like ‘that’s my son’ and ‘that’s a friend of mine who has died’, I just felt I had to keep going.
The opening of Portraits of Resilience has live music from violinist Yuliya Knowles, and the Ukrainian Sunflowers Choir, made up of women from Ukraine who are refugees living in Cornwall with words of support from the MP for Truro and Falmouth, Jayne Kirkham for the Ukrainian people.
Visitors can add their thoughts and prayers on magnetic sunflowers and donate to the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. Some of the paintings will also be available to buy as prints.
“When I started this, it was a way of making people aware of what’s happening, keeping it front of mind and giving support to the Ukrainian people,” said Louise. “A lot of them have found it comforting and are glad that people around the world are taking an interest in them, not forgetting them.
“And I also want to give hope. Like the painting of the soldier who’s a violinist, and the children who are carrying on, even though the school behind them has been bombed out. I don’t want everything to be miserable. It’s really to tell stories.”
https://www.trurocathedral.org.uk/whats-on/art-exhibition-ukrainian-portraits-of-resilience-17824-17824/sat-17-aug-2024-10-00-am
Louise Pasterfield: Portraits of Resilience Exhibition
Truro Cathedral, 17-27 August
