How Yulia Kovalska combines heritage and modernity

An article about my painting «Tree of Life. Seven Generations“, which takes part in the Second Final Exhibition ”Creativity and Taste of Generations“ of the project ”Mosaic of Ukraine’s Heritage“, was published in the online edition of the Independent Information and Analytical Diary ”By the Word». I present to your attention a translation of the article into English. You can read the original article here.

Sometimes art becomes not just a reflection of the world, but a bridge between generations, between past and present, between memory and dream. Yulia Kovalska’s painting «Tree of Life. Seven Generations“, presented in the all-Ukrainian cultural and artistic project ”Mosaic of Ukraine’s Heritage», is exactly that. It’s not just a bright acrylic painting, but a deep conversation about who we were, who we are now, and who we can become.
In Yulia’s artwork, the eternal symbol, the Tree of Life, blossoms. Not from myths or textbooks, but from the folk code woven into the colorful Petrykivka painting. This tree carries not only beauty but also meaning — it is a bridge of resistance to chaos, a living pattern of spiritual integrity that grows through trials from generation to generation.
Seven generations, represented by lines, branches, and flowers, are more than a number. It is the inner frame of the Ukrainian family, its invisible support. In the center is the harmony of color, pattern, and movement. Each fragment of the canvas is like an extract from a large family book written not in letters, but in brush strokes. And at the same time, it is a book about the future, in which the heritage does not stand in museum silence, but lives and changes with us.
Petrykivka painting in Yulia’s artwork is not just a decorative element. It is organic, breathing, and deeply symbolic. Its roots are unity with nature, its trunk is the unbreakable tradition, and its colors are the light that seems to be born from within the painting. All of this is a pictorial manifesto of beauty that does not fade with time.

“My paintings are my view of the world as I see it or want to see it,” says Yulia Kovalska. In her case, it is a world where tradition is not a shadow of the past, but a source of inspiration, an idea of renewal. In her works, she uses various techniques: acrylic, oil, tempera, and watercolor. Her genres include ornament, iconography, still lifes, and landscapes. But behind the forms there is always one thing — the desire to convey feelings, aspirations, hopes. Something that cannot be expressed in words, but can be felt by looking at her paintings.
The Mosaic of Ukraine’s Heritage project is not just an exhibition, but an attempt to see Ukraine through the eyes of its artists. And Yulia Kovalska’s painting is one of those that remain in the imagination for a long time. It’s as if she says: here, look — our history, our roots, our color. It does not freeze in a pattern, but sprouts again in contemporary art.
In the painting «Tree of Life. Seven Generations», the past and present are intertwined in a pattern that you don’t want to unravel — you just want to look and feel. To feel the warm confidence that despite everything we’ve been through, we have the strength to continue to blossom. And this is not a metaphor — this is our path, written in colors that do not fade.

Yulia’s paintings are stories in which everyone can find their own. For some, it’s a memory of their grandmother’s chest painted with bright colors. For others, it is an image of a large family that stays together despite distance and time. And for some, it is a hope that our descendants will also have their own tree of life. And it will stand strong. Because we passed on the roots to them. And light. And beauty.
The article was prepared for publication as part of the coverage of the All-Ukrainian cultural and artistic project “Mosaic of Ukraine’s Heritage”.
Read more about Vanda Orlova’s author’s cultural and artistic project “Mosaic of Ukraine’s Heritage” on the website of the organizer, the first Ukrainian art agency Art Fine Nation, an official partner of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine.