OROS VASYL

Honoured Master of Folk Art of Ukraine (1999). Laureate of the State Prize name after D. Shcherbakivskyi (1998). Member of the National Union of Masters of Folk Art of Ukraine (1990).

Vasyl Oros was born on 2 January 1933 in Tereblia village, Tiachiv district, Transcarpathian region. His childhood took place in the difficult 30s – the period of the world economic crisis affecting Pidkarpatska Rus which at that time was part of the Czechoslovak Republic. In his childhood, like all children, he liked painting. In the army, he practiced drawing but began to paint systematically after the army, when he worked as a mechanic in the Uzhhorod car park. The artist had a shift job – working for 24 hours and then three days off. He had time for self-education, painting, learned the basics of drawing from books, read a lot of both theory and practice of art. He has never had any close friendships with professional artists, although he knows a lot of them.

Vasyl Oros is an original, unique artist who managed to preserve the childish freshness and immediacy of the worldview. Now he is one of the few representatives of the naive art of our region, Ukraine. His work is an aesthetic manifestation of the ethnic culture of countrymen, expressing the soul of our people, tangential to the values ​​of the national identity. In the artist's work, it can be traced the use of ancient symbols as manifestations of ancestral mythological consciousness. The author often uses well-known stories from the folk songs, fairy tales, customs and rituals, interpreting them in his original way. Therefore, his art is close, native and understandable to those who know and appreciate folk culture.

The artist is sure that if a person is capable and willing, then he/she can independently attain the peaks of mastery in his/her work. He was constantly interested in art, learned everything by himself. He can argue with some academics about the theory and history of art.

He works in different styles, depending on the subject. In the 60-70s, he travelled a lot around Transcarpathia, painting from nature. But, as a rule, he finished his paintings in the studio. He’s never tried to copy nature but depicted it in his own way. The events taking place in his life, in Ukraine and in the world as a whole, give rise to certain thoughts in his head, sometimes encourage him to take the brush, express his attitude to what is happening around with help of his own means. First, it comes a thought, idea, and then it arises the desire to convey it to the viewer. After that, he sits down, picks up a pencil, makes several sketches, works on composition, colour. Therefore, he has the works on historical themes, icons, landscapes, still lifes, sometimes portraits. The style of the artist is far from academic. This is not painting in the literal sense of the word. Figuratively speaking, he colours a graphic composition created on the canvas, which is a characteristic feature of amateur artists. Although, of course, this is not about all the master’s paintings.

The artist admits that recently it is very difficult for him to paint. He doesn’t have the strength he used to have 10 – 20 years ago. But he perceives the life realities philosophically: he relies on God in everything. He says, "What will be his will, such will be my destiny."

Participant in regional, national and international art exhibitions. Personal exhibitions: in 1992 – Uzhhorod, in 1993 – Kyiv.

Volodymyr Myshanych