Against the Darkness

2022, Drawing, Wood, Graphite pencil , Contemporary

This is a Digital Original of the artwork, digitized using the process. Each DO is verified, blockchain-secured, and comes with full rights for exclusive digital ownership.

"Against the Darkness" is part of the project "A TREE OF A GREAT HEIGHT STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE EARTH" (2022).

"The project is filled with thoughts about the body of the war, about human being as a part of the nature and war, which destroys everything around, about "crime against humanʼs life", as if it was "a crime against the nature itself". Black spots represent the burnt days of war on our peaceful life. They absorb living space, memories and plans for the future. The image of the enemy appears in this vibrating blackness.

I think about who he is, how does he look like, is it in fact a human? The folk-swear definition of the enemy as "inhuman-pig-dog" appeared in "Ukrainian folklore" in 2014. I have borrowed and used it in my system of images. However, I find the image of light against the darkness. "The life grows out of a person, branches germinate into the sky from her hands, her feet put down roots into the ground."

This is a metaphor about the past and the future, about the roots and branches of a tree, as a reflection of ancestors and descendants, I think about the connection between humanʼs life with the nature." Seeds, sprouts, a tree" – it is a rebirth, it is a body that grows from the nature, and then returns to it again. The battle with a tree that sprouts from nowhere is an image of the fight for freedom, of the resistance to irrational evil. These are the chopped off branches of a tree standing in the middle of the earth, which will sprout next spring anyway."

Polina Shcherbyna

Digital original details

Format
Digital Original Standard
Resolution
400 MPX
Color depth
48 bit 281 Trillion Colors
Original file size
1428 MB DNG File

Physical original details

Country
Ukraine
Years
2022
- Styles
  - Contemporary
- Medium
Physical canvas
20cm x 30cm
Framing
No framed

Polina Shcherbyna

Polina Shcherbyna is a talented Ukrainian artist who works across various mediums, including drawing, painting, photography, and installation art.

Summary of Polina Shcherbyna

The artist engages with the expanded concept and perception of painting, presenting it as an object that reflects on iconography and the aesthetics of the temple.The artwork of Polina Shcherbyna is interpreted be the artist as a double view of the world of the fall of the Anthropocene idea.

Biography of Polina Shcherbyna

The artist was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 1993. She studied in department of monumental painting and temple culture named after Mykola Storozhenko at NAFAA, earning a Master of Fine Arts degree.

Polina Shcherbyna’s paintings have been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Her solo shows have been held at Gallery DIM in Warsaw, M17 Contemporary Art Centre in Kyiv, Idealfruhstuck in Paris, and Šopa Gallery in Kosice, among other renowned venues. Moreover, she participated in group shows, such as “Materia metters” at Ukrainskyi Dim in Kyiv (2024), “Traces of timelessness” at Künstlerhaus Sootböern in Hamburg, “BRÜCHE” at HAUS KUNST MITTE in Berlin (2024), and many more.

Currently, the artist lives and works in Leipzig and Berlin.

Polina Shcherbyna’s Famous Works: Exploring the Artist’s Journey

Polina Shcherbyna’s original paintings include “Is the Wound Healing or Growing?” (2023), “ONE LESS TREE IN PARADISE” (2022-2023), “The Winter Landscape Has Changed To — The Landscape Of Emptiness” (2023), and “Battallia of Modernity” (2023), among others.

Additionally, the artist has created numerous firing paintings and drawings on wood, and installations. These include “Branches of Great Tree (Double-Sided Work)” (2022), “The time when stones will be gather” (2023), “Overcoming the Black Spot” (2022), “Against the Darkness” (2022), and many more. Polina Shcherbyna’s paintings for sale are available at auction on the UFDA website.

Polina Shcherbyna’s Art Style

The artist interprets her artworks as a dual perspective on the fall of the Anthropocene concept. This duality is central to her creative process, reflected in her installations featuring double-sided artworks on wood using pyrography and carving techniques. These works often incorporate poetry sound as an additional element of the spatial-auditory perception of the work.

On one side, Polina Shcherbyna’s art evokes horror and powerlessness in the face of humanity's darker aspects. On the other, her works embody faith and hope for the future.

A primary material in her practice is unprimed linen fabric glued with layers of gelatin, which preserves the fabric’s crumpled curves and torn edges. This technique captures the passage of time in the form of bends and folds on the canvas. The prototype of this technical method visually is the shroud. The artist creates images with a partial loss of information, a technique that evokes the illusory nature of time and memory, reminding us that history is merely an imprint left behind.

Her practice revolves around themes of corporeality, employing anti-anatomy techniques. This exploration extends to the spiritual and physical realms of human, evolving into reflections on nature and the imagery of the tree.

In recent years, Polina Shcherbyna’s arts have delved into themes of loss and the potential for healing. Drawing on deep ecology, dark vitality, and the body of war, her art examines the sacralization of death, humanity's suffering, and sacrifice in the modern world through the prism of the circle of history and Christianity.

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