Jul, 2022
"We will enjoy flowers again"
ARTIST'S ZOOM TALK: Sunday 21 August 2022, 4.00pm - 5.30pm online via Zoom
Meeting ID: 864 0189 8261
Passcode: Nomas
Artist's Statement
08.03.22 "I wish you to enjoy flowers again!"
My brother wished it to my mum and I on International Woman's Day. Usually he buys us flowers and nice presents on this day. Now we are all miles apart, not even able either to buy flowers, neither to receive them, neither even to think about presents. The idea of enjoying beauty felt inappropriate that day. The only thing we were focusing on was surviving...
Art heals. Art helps to talk and share. I've always been the one who carried a small sketchbook with a pen. Now it is turning into a digital version, but the concept remains: observe, feel, document.
On the 24th of February, life changed significantly. Even being safe myself, I stopped doing everything I used to. I already experienced that feeling during the Revolution of Dignity in 2013/14, the annexion of Crimia the same year and the long lasting war since then in Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
This strange feeling of responsibility to synchronise your whole life with political changes in your country. Being settled in London for a few years hasn't separated me from the same feeling about my home country. Art saved me again. An emotional rollercoaster which pushed all anxiety feelings to the limit had to be balanced in some way. Inhumane behaviour of occupiers, contrasting sacrificing of Ukrainian heroes more honorable than any Marvel movie ever seen, constant worry about friends and family... I just kept drawing.
Artist's Bio
Alina Potemska, visual artist and illustrator, board game designer, Doctor of Arts.
Alina Potemska was born in Kyiv and graduated from The Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. She specialises in visual arts and games. She designs board games and researches effective methods for transferring the cognitive function of books to games. She consider game and art as a helpful tool in understanding the world. She captures daily scenes in life drawings and illustrations.
She has exhibited in solo and group shows in many countries, including the UK, USA, France, Poland, and Ukraine, introducing the different sides and similarities in illustration and games.
Artist's Webpages
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Next project: → Forgive Them Their Debts
Previous project: ← Something for Nothing