Assembling "An Ensemble of Colour"

 

On Friday, December 03, 2010, the artist Larisa Sembaliuk Cheladyn spoke at the Kule Folklore Centre’s weekly Folklore Luncheon.

Larisa recently unveiled her latest work of art – “An Ensemble of Colour” at the Cheremosh Dancer’s 40th Anniversary Gala.  This piece was commissioned by the Cheremosh Dance Ensemble to commemorate this special event and it took over a year for Larisa to complete.  The original work is over 16 feet long and approximately 4 feet high and will be exhibited in a number of national and international locations before a permanent home is found for it.

 

Larisa Sembaliuk Cheladyn with one of her story boards and a print of her finished work

Only 100 smaller prints were copied and were available for purchase and Larisa brought one of the prints to the luncheon.  She explained the complicated process she goes through from the time a piece is commissioned to the finished artistic piece.

 

Larisa explained the meticulous research she did on each costume she painted to commemorate costumes that were worn in the 1960s all the way to the present and talked about the stories that accompanied each costume and the way they changed through the decades from authentic pieces brought over by ancestors immigrating from Ukraine to the modern costumes used by the dance group today that reflect brighter colors and synthetic materials for stage dance.

 

She explained her creative process from the original “seed” of an idea to her research to the sketches and boards she puts together before a piece is ever started.  Her discussion provided a fascinating insight into the creative journey an artist takes when assembling their latest masterpieces.