On the basis of Vadym Vasylovich Ishchenko’s creative work we can get the picture of Ukrainian folk art with today’s touch.
Born in 1970 in the Oblast of Harkiv, in Lozova, the artist now lives in the town of Gorishni Plavni, in the Oblast of Poltava. There he graduated from secondary school and got his diploma from a technical school of mining and metallurgy. But, as he had interest in woodcarving since early childhood, he began to earn his living with art already in 1988. He was lucky to study in the workshop of a famous master of folk art and painting. In 2004 Vadym Ishchenko opened his first solo exhibition in Gorishni Plavni. After that his wood carvings and sculptures have been exhibited repeatedly in Kiev.
Vadym has represented Ukraine at various folk art exhibitions in Europe. In 2019 he got the second prize for his sculpture Bench at the Aurelia Medusa contest in Rome. Surely the greatest recognition for him is the order for his iconostasis for the Church of Three Saints in Gorishni Plavni. He worked with it in the years 2011- 2016, from design to accomplishment.
Vadym’s carvings bear the spirit of folk art, they are created with old working methods but their themes entwine the past with the present. The same can be said about his paintings.
This exhibition The Valley of the Patterned Song travelled around Ukraine and got a warm welcome everywhere. The themes of the paintings come from folk songs. The lines of the poetry became headings and the stories found their place on the canvas. Ancient wisdom, old spells and jokes help people to cope during good a well as bad times…
The exposition is put up in cooperation with the Estonian National Museum.
