Hanna Pidkaliuk, an artist from Kharkiv, Ukraine, shares a deeply personal journey of war, displacement, and resilience in Through the Darkness of Despair to the Light of Hope. Her vibrant, emotionally charged works draw from lived experience, capturing both the trauma of sudden upheaval
and the fragile, persistent hope for healing.
“My grandmother used to say, ‘Everything can happen in our lives, as long as it’s not war,’” Hanna recalls. “She was the same age as my daughter is now when the world war knocked on her door. Her stories once felt like fiction—until they became my reality.”
At the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Hanna and her family sheltered in their basement for ten days before fleeing their home—a place they would never return to. This harrowing moment is the emotional nucleus of her exhibition. It tells the story of a person who faced war head- on, from despair to hope for a new life.
At the heart of the show is the series 5 Towels – 5 Steps to Rebuilding Consciousness, a symbolic narrative of survival and recovery. Each piece reflects a step in reclaiming identity, memory, and strength in the aftermath of
destruction. Pidkaliuk describes her work as “naive art based only on
self-education and experience.” Her drawings—unfiltered and direct—are her lifeline: “my source of vitality.” Through art, she channels a quiet defiance: to keep creating, even when the world breaks apart. Now based in Ireland, Hanna has continued to develop her practice through the support of a mentoring programme led by the Arts and Cultural Diversity section of Donegal County
Council Arts Service. Under the guidance of renowned Donegal textile artist Deborah Stockdale, she has found a new artistic community and space to share her voice.
