PRESS

CONGRATULATIONS TO LANA MATSKIV

The Shevchenko Museum takes great pleasure in congratulating our board member, Lana Matskiv, on having been awarded 3rd place for her painting “The Trick” (2023), by the Art Preservation Institute of America in their Online Spring Exhibition.

The multi-talented Ms. Matskiv, formerly of Odesa, Ukraine, and current resident of Chatham, Ontario is a prominent visual artist, passionate art collector, curator of the Matskiv family collection, and member of the Ukrainian Association of Visual Artists of Canada. From December 4, 2022 to February 3, 2023, the Shevchenko Museum hosted her solo exhibition, “Defiance”, the opening of which drew a substantial crowd of fans and admirers. Her work can be found in the permanent collection of the Ukrainian Canadian Art Foundation, on display at the Ukrainian Consulate in Toronto, as well as in private collections, internationally.

A professionally-trained journalist, Lana Matskiv is, in her own words, “…always a storyteller…I knew why I wanted to draw and paint: to tell stories I overheard in my lifetime…Every work I make has a narrative”. And her painting, “The Trick”, is no exception.

In it, the artist paints an homage to her beloved friend, Suren Torosyants, an Armenian man from Tbilisi, Georgia. For years, he performed as an acrobat on trampoline with various circuses around the world, and won 1st place and a gold medal at the International Circus Festival in Monaco which was presented to him personally by the Prince of Monaco.

After immigrating to Canada in the late 1990s, and suffering a devastating family tragedy, Suren, with the help of his wife and daughter, took years to recover. Finally, he was able to find solace in nature where he discovered fishing and the healing power of Canadian rivers and forests. Gradually, he was able to rebuild his life, work as a gymnastics coach and enjoy being a grandfather to 2-year old Sebastian.