The Sovereign

"The Sovereign" reflects the sorceress side of the Ukrainian woman. Witches, folk healers, soothsayers, and sorceresses are an inseparable part of Ukrainian spiritual history and culture. Once, almost every village had a person with supernatural abilities who could tell whether a hex had been cast, ward off the "evil eye," prepare a "love potion," and so on. The lady is dressed in the peerless wedding attire of Bukovyna. A distinctive adornment of the maiden's headdress is feather grass. To fasten the plant to the hair, they used "kody" — a small box decorated with various little flowers. I painted the braid full and voluminous, because since ancient times it was believed that a woman's strength and health lie in long, thick hair.

Technique

Canvas, oil

Dimensions

50x75

Year

2016