Flowers and viburnum 1958

Curator: Looking at this exuberant canvas by Kateryna Bilokur titled "Flowers and Viburnum," painted in 1958 using oil paints, I’m struck by the sheer, unapologetic maximalism. What springs to your mind? Editor: It’s... intensely detailed. And joyful, though almost bordering on overwhelming joy. There’s such a density to the composition. The flowers almost spill out at you. Curator: Exactly! It’s almost as if she wanted to capture the whole blooming season in one go. Bilokur's technique is so interesting because she grinded her own pigments! And although she painted in a Realist style, it is clear that this isn't just Realism as such but infused with Ukrainian Folk Art traditions and almost an otherworldly, fairytale-like beauty. Editor: The composition also echoes folk art sensibilities, the way everything is pushed to the foreground, with very little depth. I also note the sharp definition of the leaves; it’s almost illustrative, isn’t it? Like a botanical drawing but turned into something much more emotionally charged. I'd even say that she creates an incredibly textured surface and dense space where individual flowers become symbolic entities, rather than purely representational elements. Curator: Absolutely! And she was self-taught, imagine that! Working mostly in isolation, observing every tiny nuance, she makes such precise arrangements of nature, but they seem charged with her spirit, you know? And look at the light – how she uses it to spotlight the intricate patterns within the blossoms and grapes! The way each element pulsates, doesn't it evoke a sensation of movement? Editor: I think that sensation comes partly from how she handled the material, her direct manipulation of the paint. Every touch feels deliberate and contributes to the larger, overall design, which in its way reinforces that emotional impact through visual sensation. Her perspective seems really influenced by seeing art as inseparable from life itself, almost like magic. Curator: It makes her painting seem like it sprang forth as one breath. The more I consider it, the more enchanted I am, to be quite honest. Editor: I agree! There is such vibrant energy that radiates from her arrangement! It gives such an optimistic feel about what's growing within us.