Name/Title
Western Park Apartments - Yelena Kristich - Open Mind - 2019Description
Yelena Khristich
“Open Mind”
Western Park Apartments
If you're lucky, Yelena might sing you the Ukrainian folk song that is featured in this painting of her grandmother's house where she spent her summers in the central Ukrainian town of Poltova. Born in Kiev in 1948, she lost her father at the age of thirteen, but went on to study in the Polytechnic University, where she met her husband. The couple raised a daughter, who inherited Yelena's love of singing, and the family came to the U.S. in 1998.
Yelena began doing art with AWE five years ago, but a broken wrist interrupted her art-making. Her teacher Rafael gave her a series of exercises to help her brain recover from the trauma and on that same day, she was able to write her name for the first time with her non-dominant hand.
She likes to paint in what she calls "Ukrainian style," once adapting the work of a Mexican artist that inspired her into her own native style. A creative person, she also enjoys sewing, embroidery, and knitting--a skill she uses to make blankets for babies in the neo-natal unit.
As for the lessons she's learned: "Immigration is very hard, but if you like music and art it always helps you to recover and adjust. The deeper you go into a new culture, the better."
ART WITH ELDERS
2019 27th Annual Art With Elders Exhibit
