"The Braidbasket"
“The Braidbasket” is based on a photograph I took of women in a market square in Lviv, Ukraine. The women seated at a bench appeared to be frozen as a young flower lady dressed in beautiful peasantry costume walked off the frame to the left – towards the West. As the painting took shape in my studio, protests erupted in Kiev’s icy central square over the people’s desire to join the European Union. The title comes from the slogan that Ukraine is “The Breadbasket of Europe.” In traditional Ukrainian costume, women wear their hair in long braids. Collaged onto the painting’s surface is Ukrainian embroidery, embracing both the flesh and the landscape.
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