About Oresta Behan

Through my creativity, I blend seemingly incompatible elements: stylish and antiquated, abstract and traditional. I want as many people as possible to learn about Ukrainian art. When people look at my paintings, I want them to feel the power embedded within them. I want people to remember who they are and their belongingness, to awaken a sense of something familiar, perhaps forgotten. I want individuals to feel their identity, to recall their heritage, their ancestors, their traditions, their grandmothers, as all our ancestors created handcrafted patterns, embroidered, whether on skirts and shirts or painted amulets on pottery. I want people, while looking at my paintings, to reminisce about themselves and their heritage, while simultaneously deriving aesthetic pleasure from the stylish and antiquated. I want a spark to ignite within them, prompting them to desire to adorn their homes with my paintings and to gift them to their loved ones during holidays. Through my paintings, I hope that Ukrainians living far away can feel a bit more at home.