Mykhailo Reva – Ukrainian sculptor, the most famous Ukrainian sculptor, notes Guardianbut the playful, tongue-in-cheek style of his creations has changed since Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and now his creations take on grim forms, using shrapnel and missile debris to recreate the nightmarish world of conflict.

The horrors of Buchi and Mariupol, where Russian soldiers executed civilians, inspired him to create a series of unusual new sculptures that could well have been born from a combination of “Hoffman Stories” and a nightmare.

The central place is occupied by a four-meter sculpture of the ancient god Moloch in the form of a Russian bear. Reva made it from shrapnel and other bomb fragments salvaged from the battlefield and welded together. “It’s like a giant scary toy for kids. It will be on wheels,” Reva said. “The bear has biblical associations and refers to Moscow. You look at it and it hypnotizes you. There is fragility and cruelty.”

Another sculpture that really haunts you is called “Flower”. Its flowery metal form is made from twisted parts of a Russian X-31 missile that crashed near Reva’s workshop in the resort town of Zatoka in southern Ukraine. Broke the door of the country house. Miraculously, Reva’s sculpture was not damaged. The neighbor collected the debris and gave it to him.

The collection of 10 works bears the sardonic title “Русский мир”, or “Русский мир”. Putin motivated his all-out assault by trying to return Ukraine to a single cultural and civilizational space with Russia. For Ukrainians, this expression came to mean death, terror and extermination: a brutal attempt by one country to devour another.

Reva did work for Putin in 2002, now she wants “revenge”

In 2002, the Kyiv government asked him to create a unique piece of jewelry for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Reva designed a silver sundial. On it was written a message about the importance of the law. “Putin kept it on his desk. At the time I thought he was a reformer. That’s what everyone did, including George Bush,” said the sculptor.

“This is my personal revenge,” added Reva from his spacious workshop in the center of Odessa.

“I needed to find such a form with “Russian Peace” that everyone would understand. I saw photos of the war in Ukraine, but that was not enough. You need images that speak to everyone: art snobs and the average man and woman on the street. It should be the language of truth.”

PHOTO: Yevhenii Fesenko|Dreamstime.com