Dvorak Oleksandr

Member of the National Union of Masters of Folk Art of Ukraine (2012).

Oleksandr Dvorak was born on 13 March 1980 in Irshava, Transcarpathia. He received his secondary education at Irshava secondary school No. 1. From his childhood, he worked at the pottery studio of his father, thus he began making pottery at the age of 11. In 1997, he entered the Uzhhorod Art College named after A. Erdeli, ceramics department. He studied drawing, painting, sculpture, art history, philosophy, etc. His teachers were Iryna Erfan, Pavlo Balla, Mykhailo Mykhailiuk, Mykhailo Syrokhman, and Mykhailo Pryimych. In 2001, he graduated from the college and returned to his hometown, started working in his own ceramic studio. In the same year, he got a job at the Irshava House of Child Creativity on the basis of secondary school No. 1, where he was teaching decorative and applied arts in the individually equipped room.

In general, it should be noted that in the early 20th century, Transcarpathia was famous for its potters. The centres of pottery were in Berehovo, Vynohradiv, Mukachevo, Uzhhorod, Khust, Vilkhivtsi village in Tiachiv region, Siltse village in Irshava Region, Komiaty village in Vynohradiv region and many others. The potters Ivan Maleta, Ivan Sidei, Vasyl Polianskyi, Fedir Chernytskyi, the Halas family and dozens of other masters are the famous far beyond Ukraine. Unfortunately, today pottery as a kind of folk art crafts is on the verge of disappearance. There are only a dozen masters of the corresponding direction. One of them is Oleksandr Dvorak – a young master, a follower of the tradition of the Transcarpathian school of pottery.

Oleksandr Dvorak repeatedly represented the art of ceramics both in his homeland – in Kyiv, Poltava, Chyhyryn, Opishnia villages of the Poltava region, and abroad – in Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary. The creative activity of Dvorak is aimed at the revival and preservation of traditional pottery forms, decorative painting and production technology.

He produces ceramic dovzhanka, pots, plates, flowerpots, etc. He paints by engobes on raw shards. After drying – the first burning.  Then he covers the products with the watering and burning again. In decoration, the master uses the “cutting” technique alongside with painting by pear. Creating his original ornament, he uses traditional elements.

He constantly takes part in exhibitions of modern ceramics, workshops for children and adults in various artistic formats. His creativity was appreciated and supported by the President of Ukraine. In 2012, he received a presidential scholarship for his active work aimed at the development of Transcarpathian pottery. The Transcarpathian regional centre of the National Union of Masters of Folk Art of Ukraine nominated him.

Now Oleksandr Dvorak is in a creative search. Without leaving potter's wheel, he began learning artistic photography and painting.

The artist himself is convinced that folk art is the foundation of contemporary art and the basis of national culture. And the preservation of national traditions makes it possible to understand and not to lose the spiritual essence and cultural identity of the people.

Volodymyr Myshanych