THE IMAGE OF THE WARRIOR IN UKRAINIAN PAINTING (2014–2024): THEMES, IDEAS, SYMBOLS

Abstract

The aim of the article is to provide a comprehensive study of the specific features of the image of the warrior in Ukrainian painting of 2014–2024, in particular by identifying the leading thematic directions, artistic ideas, and symbolic structures that shape this image in the context of the contemporary war. The article traces the process of restoring and reinterpreting the national-heroic image of the defender in the context of the formation of Ukrainian identity. The research methodology is based on a combination of iconographic, historical-cultural, and comparative analysis, which makes it possible to identify the transformation of visual solutions and semantic emphases in the work of contemporary Ukrainian artists. The study analyzes painting practices related to the representation of the warrior as an individual hero, a symbolic figure, and a cultural sign that embodies the experience of resistance, trauma, and national identity. The results of the study demonstrate the evolution of the image of the warrior from the documentary-portrait fixation of Maidan participants and volunteers to generalized symbolic and allegorical models, in which the warrior appears as a bearer of moral choice, historical memory, and the value-based position of society. Three main models of representing the image of the warrior are identified: documentary-psychological, symbolic-allegorical, and metaphorical-ironic. The study is carried out with regard to the sociocultural context of wartime and the specificity of the artistic language of individual artists. Particular attention is paid to the transformation of visual strategies in the period from the Revolution of Dignity to the full-scale war, which made it possible to outline the dynamics of the formation of the contemporary image of the warrior in Ukrainian art. The conclusions substantiate that the image of the warrior in Ukrainian painting of 2014–2024 functions not only as an artistic motif but also as an important cultural phenomenon that reflects the process of forming contemporary Ukrainian identity and performs the sociocultural function of preserving collective memory.