The Lost Poems of Vasyl Stus

This non-figurative painting is collaged with fragments of text in cyrillic script. Its high contrast brushwork is clearly visible; the strong marks are at once gestural and intentional. Colour is limited to black and white, giving the painting a severe and sombre tone. 

As the title suggests, the work makes reference to the banned Ukrainian literature of Vasyl Stus, a poet who was imprisoned by the Soviet régime for his political convictions. Stus spent 23 years in detention on charges of political dissent, and died after a hunger strike in a forced labour camp. Appropriately, the heavy marks at times obscure the words making them appear to sink into the mud.