Ukrainian karakoko. A new style in the world’s fine art.

Ukraine gave birth to lots of talented people who became known world wide. It’s a pity that most of them were recognized after they had died. An emerging Ukrainian artist Lesya Kara-Kotsya is very young yet (30 years old), but has already found recognition among arts lovers and critics, as she has created her own style of painting. Arts experts couldn’t define, to which direction Lesya’s paintings belong, so they gave her a right to name her style by herself, because it’s really new. She didn’t think for a long time and called it just ‘karakoko’: the first part of the name ‘kara’ was taken from the artist’s family name Kara-Kotsya, and ‘koko’ reminds us of rococo and baroque. She has just joked, but the public liked the idea and started calling her paintings that way.

Why is this style particular? It is determined by wide use of symmetrical floral patterns, rich color range and a symbolic idea. It’s impossible to find such patterns in any arts encyclopedia. They are created by Lesya’s imagination. When she was a small child and got bored listening to teachers at school (hardly ever got she full marks), she drew such flowers at the margins of her copy-books. She did it easily and didn’t have to think it out, it just came out of her imagination. When she became an artist, Lesya thought how she could apply those patters in fine art and turn them into professional paintings. Finally, she managed.

And what if other artists like the style and start copying it? – First of all they need to change their family names to “Karakotsya”, - the artress jokes. In fact, it’s possible to copy the patterns, but it’s quite difficult to create a professional composition and invent a deep idea, a conception. Every painting has its own fabulous story. For example, the painting “The Wind is walking over the sea, wearing red boots, and rescuing white lambs from the waves”. In Ukrainian the foam that appears on the waves in storm is metaphorically called ‘lambs’, because lambs usually have white curly fur. White lambs appear with the Wind that is painted as a Cossack wearing traditional Ukrainian costume. The Wind is rescuing lambs from the sea’s depth.

In her style she first depicted mythological and fairy-tale creatures. Then she started painting funny creatures: piglets with trunks, and called them khobotarkas (derived from a Ukrainian word “khobot” that means “a trunk”). There appeared lots of paintings, depicting khobotarkas adventures. There were three solo-exhibitions devoted to them: Khobotarkas’ Adventures, Travels and Chronicles. It made Lesya write a book “Khobotarkas’ Adventures. Rescuing the Spring Sun”. It contains about 100 author’s illustrations. It’s written in Ukrainian, but in close future Lesya’s going to have it translated into English, as she has many English speaking friends, who admire her art.

Last year Lesya Kara-Kotsya painted a portrait of Sir Elton John, when he gave a charity concert in Ukraine. To signify her gratitude for the concert, she’s presenting the painting to the singer.

Londoners will be able to see the paintings in the original at Art in Mind group exhibition at The Brick Lane Gallery on April 2-14. 196 Brick Lane | London | E1 6SA | UK.
Nearest Tube: Liverpool St or Aldgate East

Arts critic Anastasia Kokhan

You can see other paintings in Lesya Kara-Kotsya’s web page www.khobotarkas.narod.ru