Devon Ukrainian Association presents: Maryna Omelchenko “The Story of One Family”

Maryna Omelchenko

The Devon Ukrainian Association (DUA) is proud to present The Story of One Family — a deeply personal and moving exhibition by Ukrainian artist, poet, facilitator, and teacher Maryna Omelchenko. This exhibition brings together traditional Petrykivka painting, contemporary mixed-media artwork, and poetry written during the most harrowing moments of war.

This is not only the story of one family — it is the story of a people. Of every Ukrainian household that kept an embroidered shirt in a grandmother’s chest. Of collective grief. Of healing love. And of traditions that endure, speak, and shine — even in the dark.

After the outbreak of the full-scale invasion, Maryna was forced to flee Kyiv and find refuge in Western Ukraine. In the quiet of a temporary shelter, she began to paint and write. The resulting body of work — intimate and raw — includes illustrations to her poetry created on crumpled paper, layered with newspaper fragments and rendered in a stark palette of black, white, grey, and earth. They reflect an unvarnished reality — the disorientation of war, the absence of time.

And yet, the exhibition is also about light. The light that remains within us — memory, faith, resilience, the unbreakable thread of belonging.

The Story of One Family is an exhibition of duality: past and present, pain and prayer, war and faith. It reminds us that even in darkness, color does not vanish — it deepens.

The second part of the exhibition celebrates the Ukrainian decorative art tradition of Petrykivka painting. In Maryna’s hands, this UNESCO-recognized folk form becomes a living, breathing language of resilience and beauty. Her floral motifs are more than design — they are visual prayers, preserving memory through gesture and brushwork. These works ask: What does it mean to be Ukrainian today?

This exhibition is an invitation to reflect — on identity, loss, roots, and the quiet power of tradition. These are not just paintings. They are vessels of memory, strength, and cultural continuity.

“I wanted this exhibition to be a quiet prayer. About home. About love. About the strength that memory gives.” — Maryna Omelchenko