Sacral Wood Carving of Ukrainian Artists of the Western Diaspora

Abstract

The article highlights the activity of artists from the Ukrainian Diaspora, majority of who has not been earlier noted on their Motherland. For the first time many facts from their creative work together with artworks are promoted into the study of art. The article also reveals role and value of the artistic heritage of the Diaspora artists in the national and world art development. The authors underline that the study of wood carving of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Diaspora has not been thoroughly conducted so far. Especially, in this regard they indicate the lack of analyses of sacral wood carving in the works of artists from the Ukrainian Diaspora of the twentieth century. The authors conclude that the artistic legacy of Diaspora artists is a significant contribution to the revival of the concept and further development of the Ukrainian sacral art. The most vividly the works of Diaspora artists were presented in three-dimensional interior design of Ukrainian churches. Many Diaspora artists appealed to sacral subjects, but only several of them managed to capture centuries-old tradition of relief and flat-plane style of wood carving in church sculptures, icons, doors, stalls, etc. Consequently, the article deals with the distinguished work of Volodymyr Balias, Vasyl Zalutskyi, Ivan Denysenko, Serhiy Makarenko and Vadym Dobrolizh. The most significant achievements in the field of wood carving were represented by famous artist Mykhailo Chereshnovsky, whose talent is clearly revealed in the three-dimensional interior design of the wooden church of Saint John the Baptist in Hunter, New York State (1963-1964). This church is regarded as the part of the architectural ensemble of the open-air museum of Ukrainian wooden architecture in the United States and as the masterpiece of traditional building. The authors of the article mention that this was one of the biggest orders which Mykhailo Chereshnovsky had to fulfil, since he had to carve the iconostasis, the throne, the tabernacle, the cross, the pulpit for sermons and the chandeliers («spider»). Carving the interior of the church, Mykhailo Chereshnovsky mostly used geometric carvings. To achieve the harmony between the chiaroscuro range of wood carving and the architecture, the artist carved the iconostasis, the altar, the tabernacle, the chandelier, the tetrapod and the lectern from the same cedar wood as the church itself. The carved wood was not covered neither with gold nor paint, allowing the artist to preserve the natural beauty of the wood texture. The central place in the interior church decoration of the Western Diaspora was mainly represented by the iconostasis. Its carving underwent drastic changes both in Ukraine and in the Diaspora. The Diaspora’s artists continued the old traditions of the iconostasis iconography, design and decoration, which historically developed on the territory of Ukraine. Hence, the achievements of these artists both Ukrainian and those from the Diaspora are widely used nowadays by modern applied art artists and icon painters.