Kateryna 1951

Karpo Trokhymenko's "Kateryna" is an interesting painting that captures a mother and child, probably made with oil on canvas. The colors are earthy – muted greens, browns, and creams – which gives it a grounded, human feel, like a folk song turned visual. I love how Trokhymenko handles the paint. It’s thick in places, creating texture that makes you want to reach out and touch the canvas. Look at the folds in the mother's dress; you can almost feel the weight of the fabric. Then, notice the area around the window, the way the paint is applied loosely, almost like a sketch. It’s this contrast between the detailed and the suggestive that really grabs me. It’s not just about what’s depicted, but how it's depicted. Thinking about other artists, I'm reminded of Paula Modersohn-Becker and the way she painted peasant women with a similar mix of reverence and realism. Like Modersohn-Becker, Trokhymenko invites us to see the beauty in the everyday, and to appreciate the power of painting to convey complex emotions with simple means.