The Art of Resistance: Defending Academic Freedom since 1933 | Page 96

child of a dissident artist? Ulyana Gumeniuk
When considering this painting, the biggest question that arose
was: how might we avoid clichés when depicting war? Through
different public media, our daily lives are saturated with images of
war, suffering and destruction. How then can one reach beyond the
image and connect with the experience?
To try and do so, I attempted to connect with my feelings from
when I was a child growing up in the former Soviet Union, during
its final years. My father’s work focused on Ukrainian history and
identity and my family was persecuted by the government in Soviet
Russia and Ukraine for their cultural and political views. While
growing up, I experienced isolation and the fear of not knowing
what would become of me and my family.
At around the age of six, my own experience of persecution was
of people who were afraid to talk to my family and of children who
were told not to talk to or play with me in the yard and at school.
Strange people in grey suits shadowed our family’s movements.
The lack of adequate food and living conditions added to my
mother’s stress, while my father would disappear for days at a time
without me knowing whether he would return safely.
Much has been written about Soviet history since. Many
witnesses have come forward with stories far more distressing
than mine. As a child I was aware of stories of the disappeared,
people taken away by the KGB. A lack of historical perspective,
a lack of friends to share this experience with, and the constant
presence of imminent danger, all made it very difficult for my
6-year old mind to make sense of things, or have some perspective
on what was happening.
My memory of the experience is that of a continuous battle.
I struggled to keep a grip on the constantly-fading present, the future
and my own identity, as well as the identity of the society I was trying
to associate with. It was as if the ground was constantly shifting
under my feet and my own body was dissolved in chaos and turmoil.
94

The Art of Resistance? Defending Academic Freedom

The painting tries to convey this experience of losing an identity
before it has had a chance to form. The monochrome palate of
the painting reflects the sensation of the colours draining from
one’s experiences and of the increased contrast that follows the
emotional distress.
Instead of an image of a powerless child looking up at us asking
for help, as is often portrayed in newspapers, I wanted to bring
out through painting the sense of deeper destruction that a small
person has to wage her own battle against, in order to remain
a person.

95