Varvara Yurenko
(She/Her)
I am a Ukrainian multimedia artist, currently based in Scotland. My range of work includes drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, photography and video. Given the variety of working materials, I look for ways to blend the above and create a visual theatrical production, where each of the materials plays their role.
I am interested in a worldbuilding that is both my own, but also explore it being one with the real. Each of the artworks lives in movement and sometimes in a pause, which emphasises the morals of people’s everyday lives. My art practice began with me drawing portraits of people – it being about people. Therefore, I present to people – people. I play with the feelings of the audience, I explore whether they can blur the lines that are separating both worlds: the one created by me, their own, the one they see, the one they imagine, the one they want to be present in, as if asking whether they see signs of morality, themselves and what is happening around them.
I like to think that people become the actors in my play, and without their presence, the work would not exist. Shapes act as punctuation marks in this visual language: circles of connection, sharp lines of rupture, shadows that suggest rather than declare. This allows me to be a director who casts these shapes into a new context, framing it with my own directed story.
The Lines are Even
acrylic and oil,
110 x 170 cm
For Sale: Price on Request
Osontsenyi / Sunlit
The sun not only illuminates what is not visible, but often emphasises what is already there, hidden among shadows and shapes.
The Book costume is inspired by the books we read, and understand that its beauty and depth cannot be conveyed in any other language. It would be lost in translation. That is why it is a book written in one language, which, although it can be translated, will never truly sound like the word “мрія”.
The Star Maker (Zvizdar) costume was inspired by the old Ukrainian tradition of making wooden stars for Christmas, with which children and adults would go from house to house performing carols, or as part of a vertep (Ukrainian puppetry theatre, or people playing as stands-ins for certain Biblical characters). Also motivated by Maysternia Zvizd and its master Mykhailo Shvets. Christmas is only one day a year, and the star maker works on it day after day, year-round. It is his life’s work to raise a star to the sky.
The Bandura Player costume is inspired by the Ukrainian musical instrument – bandura, and the bandura player and singer Maryna Krut. There are up to 60 strings in bandura. Maryna removed one string from hers. And she plays in a way that no one would suspect. She is one-on-one with her instrument, to which she has devoted herself completely.
The Sailor costume is dedicated to my father, who, when he was still a little boy, wore a “Sailor” headband with a curios mind. I found his photograph wearing it in kindergarten. He always made ships.
He did not have the opportunity to go on numerous long voyages, but he built many ships for me, with care, attention to detail and a helm.
He is a sailor who has not gone on long voyages and has not been to sea, but he is a sailor whose skillful ships have been sailing for many years. This costume can be worn by any faceless character, but I hope that, when the weather at sea clears, it will be my dad who finally sets sail on the best ship in the world to see all seven seas. Maybe I will be skilled enough to make this ship for him.
It does not matter who wears the costume, but ironically, the costume says who you are.
Although my painting is full of faceless characters, each of them has a face. They are hidden between the colours and in the shapes.
Could you imagine yourself as an actor, supposedly wearing these colours and shapes, a costume you like?
The idea of belonging – whether it is a place, language, job, passion or people. Something that truly makes you feel at home.
I would also like to greatly thank my friends for their help with the project.
Models: Mariia Yalovets, Oleksandr Strekalov, Oleksandra Mishchenko, Matthew Porteous, Grace van-Daal
Lighting Assistant and technical support: Yuliia Komka
For Sale: Prints available - Price on Request
Connections of different colours
acrylic and oil,
170 x 211 cm
For Sale: Price on Request
Mosaic of unrelated decisions (solutions)
acrylic and oil,
120 x 69 cm
For Sale: Price on Request
Degree Show documentation
