Artist who lives her art (04/03/05)

Daughter and colleagues share reflections on the artist

Artist who lives her art

by Lialia Kuchma

More than 40 years have passed since Aka Pereyma participated in the 1963 "Monolith" Exhibit of Ukrainian Contemporary Artists in Chicago. This significant event was instrumental in the founding of the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA) eight years later, in 1971.

When the UIMA invited Ms. Pereyma to show her prolific body of work, I realized that a journey was required. My first trip to Troy, Ohio, was an overwhelming introduction to the life of an artist who indeed lives her art. The evidence of this is on display everywhere. Troy is graced not only with her sculptures but also with an enormous wall mural of her design in the center of town.

At the approach to the Pereyma homestead on the outskirts of town stands a distinctive metal bird sculpture, inviting you to further visual delights. Ms. Pereyma's work in metal and wood, harmoniously installed among the trees, seems to emanate from the land itself. In her home, color and pattern identify her roots and resources. The Ukrainian tradition is ever alive and vibrant in this family. Ms. Pereyma is an artist whose creative center of gravity is the egg; aspects of this image are manifested in every medium she employs.

As an artist she is very much respected and has received myriad honorifics in Ukraine and here in the United States. It is significant that in my last three trips to Troy I have had the special pleasure of being able to attend exhibits in which she participated. Her activity as an artist is, in a word, formidable. During an exhibit held at the Troy-Hayner Cultural Center she also amazed us with renditions of folk songs before her paintings.

The work of Aka Pereyma, whether expressed through the medium of paint, metal, the calligraphic delicacy of ink, or through voice, gives credence to the importance of her artistic cultural contribution.

Lialia Kuchma, a Chicago artist known for her stunning abstract and expressionistic works in tapestry, is chair of the UIMA Art Committee and curator and organizer of the "Aka Pereyma, 40 Years of Creativity: 1965-2005" exhibition at the UIMA.

| Home Page |