Artist Statement:
My grandmother was lucky. Friends arranged for her to come to North America to marry my grandfather in 1924. She was not in Ukraine in 1932-33 when Stalin imposed impossible grain quotas on Ukrainians. Russian soldiers took all the grain and animals from their farm, emptied the root cellar, and left them nothing to eat. An estimated 4 million people starved to death during the Holodomor. The Vinok is worn to celebrate important occasions. This wreath, commemorating those who never saw their wedding day, is drained of the colours of life but bears important symbols: roses (faith, hope, love); cornflowers (compassion, kindness); oak leaves (courage, strength); and white ribbons for those who died.