Yaroslav Motyka: "A little bit erotic"

"A little bit erotic" – this is how Yaroslav himself aptly describes the spicy and at the same time desirable and intriguing in art, the theme of corporeality, intimacy, eroticism and sexuality.
Yaroslav Motyka is a Ukrainian sculptor, laureate of the Taras Shevchenko State Prize of Ukraine, member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine. Born in 1943, he works in easel, decorative and monumental sculpture, and artistic ceramics.

In addition to monumental works, he creates a gallery of portraits of famous Ukrainians.

A significant place in his work is occupied by ceramic plastic of small forms.

It is known about the influence on the artist's work of the masters of Havarechchyna village, Zolochiv district, which is famous for its black smoke ceramics.

The artist is inspired by sacred primitive forms and textures:

"Stylisation is the image and style of the artist himself. Subsequently, it is necessary that the depth of folk art speaks from that style... It is necessary to start from what was.... Stone women, for example. Those sculptures come from a strong mass, perhaps the steppes, the stone dictated such stone women. The achievement of the twentieth century is that it was able to feel these powerful images of the archaic, and took advantage of their potential."

Among the variety of themes that the sculptor works with, the theme of corporeality emerges.

In many ancient or non-Western cultures, art used the form and content of human sexuality, often in an uninhibited way. The emphasised lushness of the flesh of the Palaeolithic Venus figures was probably intended to ensure the survival of the community through procreation and abundant food supplies, but it is also an important testament to how art is finding its role in perceiving and reflecting human desires. A separate line of the exhibition is the author's thematic drawings, which he easily performs between sculptural sessions. The first solo exhibition in Kyiv presents fresh sculptural works created by the author in his studio in 2023-2024. Mostly hand-moulded from fireclay, the rough masses and expressiveness of expression, the unwillingness to smooth the surface make them as modern and monumental as possible.

The exhibition will be open for public viewing from 06.06 to 11.08 at 49B Khoryva Street, Kyiv.

The author of the text –

art critic and art manager of the Imagine Point gallery

Tetiana Safir