The two worlds of Christina Senkiw: fine art and children's books (10/30/05)

The two worlds of Christina Senkiw: fine art and children's books

by Halyna Kostiuk

TORONTO - From time to time every parent faces the problem of finding good books for his/her child to read. Although there are myriad books to choose from, a special book that appeals to the taste of adults and children is not easy to find. That is why a children's publication that combines text and illustrations harmoniously attracts special attention.

Artist and author Ms. Senkiw is fortunate to be blessed with the ability to create, both with words and with her paintbrush, stories that are very interesting to children. She delights her readers with colorful images that stay in their memories for a long time.

Ms. Senkiw was born in Toronto and graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in two areas of study: history of fine art, and fine art studio. Her artistic talent became evident early in her childhood and, through diligence and perseverance she has achieved expertise and recognition.

In the mid-1980s, the artist started to work in the field of art for children. At one of her solo art exhibitions at the time, an interested viewer suggested that she should create a children's book, which she proceeded to do, and thereby added the title of author to her already existing résumé as an artist.

Ms. Senkiw's latest book for children, "Mother Nature's Pets" (available in separate editions in English and Ukrainian) was published in 2005. The art for the book is done in the same minimal style as her paintings. Her writing style also is clear and concise, so that it is easy to understand and remember the story.

The content, however, is not superficial. It contains many wise insights that speak to children as well as adults. For instance, at one point in the book the Caterpillar (one of the four protagonists) makes this thought-provoking observation: "Well, for some reason, children hate me when I'm a caterpillar, but they adore me when I'm a butterfly."

Ms. Senkiw's book "Sonja's First Camp" reveals an understanding of child psychology and children's interests. She creates a story that blends historical traditions with contemporary life. Within the framework of an exciting adventure, children learn about Ukrainian traditions that are associated with Mid-Summer's Night Eve.

Every dramatic moment in the story is illustrated. Ms. Senkiw's drawing technique is unusual. She layers colors in such a way that no pencil or brush strokes are visible, creating a colored texture that seems to have been deposited onto the surface through a fine sieve. This technique imbues the images with a watercolor-like translucency and brightness, where even the night scenes have a luminous glow.

The drawings are framed with attractive and original decorative borders. The artist creates arrangements of flowers and butterflies on the upper left hand corner and the lower right hand corner of every illustration. These floral brackets stabilize and strengthen the organization of each composition and greatly enrich the visual content. The detailed illustrative quality of these drawings does not detract from their purely aesthetic merit.

During Ms. Senkiw's recent solo art exhibit at the Ukrainian Canadian Art Foundation Gallery in Toronto, they were exhibited beside her fine art paintings, which are completely different. From a purely aesthetic point of view, the drawings for children hold their own as works of art. The pieces in the exhibit were arranged chronologically which was the most effective way to display the artist's achievements in recent years.

The book "I Want to Dance" by Ms. Senkiw is a lively story about a little boy who learns how to work diligently toward a desired goal. The drawings in this book are dynamic - full of movement and energy. In the illustrations throughout the book, the artist employs neutral backgrounds of pale blue or light gray in order to highlight the compositions. "I Want to Dance" and "Sonja's First Camp" were published bilingually, with two languages in one book (English and Ukrainian), which makes them accessible to a wider audience.

One of Ms. Senkiw's most important achievements is her artwork in the book "History of Ukrainian Costume." The artist researched the costumes in great detail, but used the material selectively - choosing not to follow her sources blindly.

Despite the fact that many artists have worked on recreating historical Ukrainian costumes (Victoria Kowalchuk, Olena Slynchak, Oksana Kosmyna and Mychailo Budennyj are some of the better known ones), Ms. Senkiw's unique personal style separates her from the rest. She not only conveys the physical essence of the costume, but also, and most importantly, she shows the psychological implications of dress and how it reveals the socio-economic status of its wearer.

In the "History of Ukrainian Costume," male and female figures dressed in historical Ukrainian costumes are depicted in a flat, almost decorative, manner. The two-dimensional quality of Ms. Senkiw's art is not simply decorative but has a sophistication and depth that is not found in everyday ornamentation.

In her art, two-dimensionality is an aesthetic value that is integral to the composition and creates the desired abstraction of the subject. The reduction of the drawings to their bare essentials frees up pictorial space in which the viewer's imagination can roam creating it's own fantasy and thus opening up a visual dialogue between the artist and the viewer.

The color schemes also support this visual dialogue. Ms. Senkiw uses soft, well-blended tones that harmonize well. They do not divert attention from the composition, but enhance the clarity and balance of all the components of the drawing.

Traditional embroidery on Ukrainian folk costumes is unique and extremely intricate. Ms. Senkiw consciously edits the complicated patterns so that only the basic infrastructure (usually geometric) of the design remains. Even the luscious floral ornamentation of the Baroque era is severely simplified. This conscious and consistent stylization of reality is found at the root of all Ukrainian folk art - weaving, pottery, embroidery - which dates back countless centuries all the way to the Trypillian era (circa 4500 to 2000 B.C.).

In situations where researchers have not been able to provide enough information about a given costume, as for instance, in the case of the Scythian costume in the "History of Ukrainian Costume," Ms. Senkiw prudently simplifies this drawing even more than the others. She communicates her restraint artistically by restricting herself to a monochromatic palette of reds and browns, and adds only delicate hints of decoration to the hem of the woman's long dress.

In the "History of Ukrainian Costume," the garments of later eras are richer in details. The period from the 15th to the 17th century is represented by an impressive variety of costumes. The garments of wealthy citizens and the Ukrainian Kozak military elite were decorated with baroque designs. All the figures are drawn on a white background so that the colors of the costumes stand out clearly. A crisp black outline flows around the contours of each figure and the colors are contained within the areas defined by this outline.

Ms. Senkiw consciously uses this method in order to convey her visual message as clearly as possible. It also allows her to emphasize the two-dimensional quality of the artwork, and to focus the viewer's attention on the surface of the drawing. A characteristic of this style of art is the total absence of shadows. Every figure exists in a brightly illuminated environment, which draws the viewer's eye to the tiniest details and endows everything with equal importance. Ms. Senkiw always uses bold and simple forms to create these figures. She achieves maximum visual impact with a minimum of gesture. For example, in color plate No. 4, "Ancient Rus' prince and princess, 10th-13th centuries," only the borders of the garments are ornamented, however, the borders themselves are richly encrusted with precious gems. Typically, the artist has drawn almost symmetrical fluid lines that define the outer edges of the garments of the prince and princess.

Ms. Senkiw has started illustrating the Ukrainian alphabet and has currently completed 11 letters out of 33. These 11 letters were part of her solo exhibit in Toronto. As with all her previously mentioned artwork for children, the paintings depicting each letter are executed in a minimalistic style, using simplified forms with fluid outlines that create a striking visual rhythm. The well-planned compositions are designed to develop a child's imagination by inspiring fantasies, and to help the child to memorize the alphabet easily and quickly. We hope to see a beautiful alphabet book in the future.

At first glance, Ms. Senkiw's artistic style appears uncomplicated. The artist does not overload her work with unnecessary details. Her paintings and drawings are bold and direct - seemingly effortless - and her visual narratives are clear and straightforward. Each of her drawings is a miniature, self-contained story.

But the simplicity of her art is very sophisticated just like the deceptively simple ornamentation found on ancient Trypillian pottery, on the woven kylyms of Podillia, on Ukrainian pysanky (Easter eggs) and in Ukrainian embroidery. The artist is very familiar with Ukrainian folk art. She responds to it at a subconscious level, however, she does not transpose the symbolic language of folk art directly to her canvases.

She transforms the symbols, aesthetically and stylistically, by passing them through the prism of her contemporary sensibility. Using modern techniques and materials, she adapts them to the ethos of the 21st century. That is why her work is an inseparable part of the contemporary art process.

Ms. Senkiw is at the zenith of her creativity, and admirers of her art will certainly have many more opportunities to view her original creations in the future.

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Ms. Senkiw exhibited her recent drawings and paintings, and launched her latest book for children, "Mother Nature's Pets," at the Ukrainian Canadian Art Foundation Gallery in Toronto on April 10-24.

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