Behind the Canvas: War and Peace
- Galina Livit
- Mar 28
- 2 min read
The War and Peace series was born during a time of deep heartbreak and helplessness—when the war between Ukraine and Russia broke out. I spent months creating these large-format paintings, pouring into them all the grief, fear, and love I felt for the people I care deeply about profoundly affected by violence and war. The emotional toll was immense, and painting became the only way I could process it.
At the time, I was still early in my artistic journey. But these works came from a place beyond skill or technique—they came from raw, unfiltered emotion. These paintings poured out of me when words failed.
What emerged was a body of work that continues to resonate with many. To this day, they remain some of my most powerful pieces, and I’m often told they speak to something universal: the pain, fear, love, and the impossible tension between destruction and resilience.
The inspiration behind this series has always been the devastating impact of war on people’s lives—a requiem for the pain, tears, and bloodshed that scar generations. For dignity. For the quiet courage it takes to carry on. And for the flicker of hope that, somehow, still endures.
This piece reflects the quiet, internal landscapes shaped by conflict—not the loud chaos of war, but what settles in its wake. The composition is layered with symbolism: cell-like structures suggest memory itself—fragmented, sacred, and fragile. Wax-like drippings call to mind melting candles, a quiet vigil for what has been lost. In the deep blue crackled surface, dreamlike echoes of childhood and happier times shimmer through like distant stars. Root-like forms emerge beneath these layers, grounding the piece in something ancient and enduring—perhaps the roots of identity, family, or collective memory. The stark contrast between dark and light is deliberate: good and bad, joy and sorrow, peace and war, all intertwined in the act of remembering.
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