Bridging the Chasm - My Journey Back to Ukraine
What is the meaning of a bridge? Is it to connect two points? Or is the bridge a process, an evolution from one state to another, in which the traveler is transformed? For me, the time span between my departure as a child from my native Ukraine during World War II and my return in October 1991, during the incredible events which utterly transformed my homeland, represents such a bridge.
The journey meant a re-discovery of roots, re-acquaintance with the language, the landscape, and the people, but most of all, it was a reconciliation and a healing of childhood traumas, which overshadowed my entire life: my father, a Ukrainian writer, lost his life during the Stalinist purges. These early events and the later experiences of war, of Nazi prison and refugee camps, were all a part of molding me as an artist and poet, and now, when the opportunity finally came to go back to Ukraine, I decided to bring my art sculptures and poems there.
It was then that the miracle of healing of the heart, the exchange of love and understanding took place during my, art exhibition. My whole life process of journeying "from darkness into light" found immediate response in the audience, whose path paralleled mine.
My Exhibition had attracted many Ukrainians who empathized with my art and poetry. Their feelings were reflected in the following quotes of the Exhibition's guest album.
"Faith. Hope, Love ... "
"The world of spirit, the connection between the human being and the universe."
"Art is the bread for the soul and celebration of feeling."
"A human being must become a worthy creation of Nature."
"I hope that the economic and political problems will pass, but there remain the human ones. And God save any nation from standing on the brink of a precipice such as the one where we are still standing."
Truly, my experience in Ukraine proved once again that the universal language of art is a direct communication between souls, which goes beyond the limitations of geographical, political, or national boundaries. My sculptures and poems continue to tour Ukraine and will eventually remain there as my gift to the country. And so, the circle completes itself, rising to the next rung of the spiral, in an endless evolution called life, transforming and healing, ever bridging the past and the future.
by Mirtala
Mirtala, a leading woman sculptor in America, is a graduate of from the Boston Museum School and has exhibited her sculptures across America. She blends sculptures with a unique blend of poetry and music.
 Updated March 18, 2008 |
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