Culver City,
California
x
There Will Be no Motherland
Date Made: 1983, 1989
Country: Soviet Union
Measurements: 70 cm x 100 cm; 27 9/16 in x 39 3/8 in
A reclining sculpture of a woman holds a single lit candle on her chest, with the Ukrainian phrase “There will be no motherland” written above. The line is taken from a poem by Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko entitled, “Hosea, Chapter XIV,” written in 1859, in which he uses biblical motifs to express regret at the destruction of Ukraine at the hands of the tsars and other imperial powers. If one turns the composition vertical, the figure appears to be standing, pierced by a candle, overlooking a village with the dome of a building, trees, and rolling hills at its feet. The wooden sculpture and the uncertainty over the direction to view the painting suggests the turmoil surrounding the autonomy of Ukraine as a country throughout history, but particularly in the dawning collapse of the Soviet Union.
Accession Number: 2009.053.006
Item Name: Painting
Credit Line: The Ferris Russian Collection, Donated by Tom and Jeri Ferris
Collection/Series: The Ferris Russian Collection, Donated by Tom and Jeri Ferris