New Jersey natives, cousins, display their creativity in Kyiv (12/18/05)

New Jersey natives, cousins, display their creativity in Kyiv

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Ola Rondiak and Damian Kolodiy are cousins who have a creative bent. The New Jersey natives recently put their artwork on display in Kyiv for Ukrainians to view.

Ms. Rondiak, 39, hosted her first solo art exhibit, "Conversation With a Dream," at the RA Gallery on Khmelnytsky Street between November 25 and December 1, while Mr. Kolodiy, 28, screened his film "The Orange Chronicles" at the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy on December 2-3.

The theme of Ms. Rondiak's exhibit involved communicating with the subconscious mind, which most often occurs through dreams. The artist displayed 16 paintings on this theme which she created during a two-week art symposium in Hungary during the summer of 2005.

The symposium taught concepts of "free painting," an art form that is created from the subconscious mind. Ms. Rondiak worked in an old castle in the company of Austrian artists.

"As with most dreams, some images flow together, while others are abstract or disconnected," Ms. Rondiak said.

The 16 paintings, which placed together form one collective work, hung from a ceiling over five chairs and a bed, where participants were able to seat themselves and attempt to partake of Ms. Rondiak's subconscious experience.

"I welcome you to experience the undefined with me," Ms. Rondiak urged her guests. "Imagine that you have just awoken or are under the full impact of your dream."

Besides the paintings, "Conversation With a Dream" included 16 computer-printed images in which Ms. Rondiak photographed herself in different poses, some provocative, and various outfits, some revealing.

Ms. Rondiak arranged the images in four columns, two considered outside and two inside. Each image had a corresponding one to the inside.

For example, in an outside image titled "A Message to Myself," Ms. Rondiak is huddled on the ground with her face hidden. The corresponding inside image, called, "Face Fears," is the same, except that a black silhouette replaces Ms. Rondiak's photograph.

"I wanted to get across that I love contrast because it represents the dichotomy in all of us," she explained. "We could be standing on the outside of a dream or artwork, or in contrast we could be inside, letting the dream or artwork enter our soul and enhance our lives."

Ms. Rondiak's interest in the subconscious stems from her earlier career as a psychotherapist.

Ten years ago, she moved to Kyiv with her husband, Peter Rondiak, to help launch his car dealership business and raise three daughters.

Ms. Rondiak said she "started artwork in my mom years" as a means of tapping and nurturing her creative side. She also designs clothing.

In the days immediately after Ms. Rondiak's exhibit, her cousin Mr. Kolodiy screened a rough cut of his documentary film, "The Orange Chronicles," on December 2 and 3.

The journalism department and film club of the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy both invited Mr. Kolodiy to show his film. Audiences of nearly 100 viewers attended each of two screenings.

Mr. Kolodiy, a film school graduate from Emerson University in Boston, shot his documentary when he traveled to Ukraine in November 2004 without knowing what to expect during the presidential elections.

With his portable camera, he happened upon the Orange Revolution - four historic weeks during which Ukrainians rose up against their oppressors and gave new meaning to their identity, consciousness and society.

Despite it being his first time in Kyiv, Mr. Kolodiy managed to capture on film riveting scenes, including Yulia Tymoshenko's courageous speech on the evening of November 21 in which she urged outraged Ukrainians to arrive at the maidan - Independence Square - the next day.

He also captured Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast State Administration Chair Roman Tkach delivering an awe-inspiring speech on Bankova Street when snow-covered demonstrators stood face-to-face with armed troops in helmets and shields.

The film also revealed Mr. Kolodiy's tenacity and dedication to telling both sides of the Orange Revolution story when he embarked on a trip through southern and eastern Ukraine.

In the city of Kherson, an incensed and intimidating supporter of Viktor Yanukovych threatened to cut his throat when he learned that Mr. Kolodiy is an American citizen. Mr. Kolodiy didn't back down, asking him why he was so angry. The disturbing exchange brought uneasy laughter among the audience.

Mr. Kolodiy said he hasn't screened the film in the United States because he is still raising funds. However, excerpts of his work have been shown at gatherings dedicated to the events of the Orange Revolution.

So far, Mr. Kolodiy's film is the only documentary film on the revolution produced by a Westerner. It is also the only documentary film encompassing the entire Orange Revolution to have surfaced so far.

In November, Ukrainian journalist Volodymyr Ariev and director Oles Sanin showed their film, "Siomyi Den (Seventh Day), a documentary on the tense seventh day of the Orange Revolution when the Ukrainian government nearly resorted to violence.

A trailer of Mr. Kolodiy's film can be viewed at http://www.orange-chronicles.com.

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