Ukraine - robgillthings.net

show planned for November-December 2025

I will be hosting a show at the Shevchenko Museum (1604 Bloor St. West in Toronto) for the last two weeks of November and the first two weeks of December of 2025 (exact dates coming soon).

I plan to have twelve paintings that are exact replicas of Ukrainian embroidery patterns, like the one featured above. All of the paintings are listed below and clicking on their titles or images will take you to a page devoted to each painting including accompanying animations and an audio album for each.

As you enter the gallery, twelve paintings will be equally spaced apart on either side of the gallery (the walls left and right when entering). On the far wall, in a spot that naturally serves as a place for the centerpiece, I will be hanging a the thirteenth painting that will be a composite of all of the twelve designs. There will also be video player running in the corner of the room that will be playing a loop of the programming/animation/audio work that accompanies each painting.

The process used to develop the composite thirteenth work begins with what you see in the animations for each of the paintings below, which are replays of the process of creation. To create these animations I used simple software that I wrote (using Processing) that records and plays back the drawing process. Accompanying the animations are audio works based on material from the Ukrainian Art Song Project. This beautiful organization, based in Toronto, Ontario, has curated a collection of ‘art songs’ – mini opera pieces from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century, composed and performed by Ukrainian artists. These works are available online on their website. Included with each release is a downloadable score which is available for free public use. I have translated these scores into MIDI files and used them to produce playback of the songs using different synths and to also develop some audio experiments of my own using this material. Each painting features a different collection of pieces from a different artist from the Ukrainian Art Song Project archives. Over the course of the twelve paintings I will feature every single sing from their online library.

I aim to develop systems relating the music to the designs, their encoded meanings, and the creative process used in developing them – the ancient codes. I definitely felt the affect of methodically drawing out these repetitive designs – the rhythm of it had an affect – calming for sure.

I am using the data that defines this animation as a departure point for investigations into the creative process and how it relates to the hidden encoded ancient spiritual motifs, the music and poetry, and Ukrainian cultural identity.

If you feel like supporting this project there are very good prints available. And there are of course, the paintings themselves.

What I am going to do is send a fixed amount – approx. $1200. I will provide proof as well.

The core of this project is software that is used to display the creative content of artistic material – in this case the Ukrainian embroidery designs. Many of the approaches I apply now are generally pretty simple. In this case, it is the playback of the filling in of the squares. But there is something to be seen in it – an aspect of the creative process. I want to combine this with the ancient codes somehow too – learning them and revealing an aspect of their presence.

I have started researching what the symbols mean. I am sending out regular updates via my newsletter and of course I will be adding new materials here as I learn more.

Go to my online store for prints and paintings.

Click on each of the images below to go to their respective web pages which includes information and commentary, the animations, images, and the accompanying audio album featuring a selection of pieces from the Ukrainian Art Song Project.