Luba Lalach

My heart has always felt a tug towards the homeland of my ancestors. I am fond of traditions and learning from previous generations. I remember sitting beside my grandfather in the summer afternoon heat, watching him brush the dirt from his hands. I marvel at the story of how he left his homeland of Western Ukraine as a young adult. My paternal grandparents worked hard on the prairie land to survive. This strong pull towards family has always guided me to find the light that sustains me. I am sentimental and rely on where I am from for inspiration to create art. 

Preserving My Roots is the title of this collection. I draw upon the opportunity of living each day a little more aware of the land and people who cultivate it. The artwork created for Preserving My Roots is derived from coursework in this program, as well as new insights along the way. After exploring printmaking techniques, I landed on silk screening my root vegetable sketches. 

A focal point in this collection is a photo I took on the day of my father’s passing. On that day, August 9th, 2015, the early morning sunlight illuminated the preserves under his bed. In addition to the farm my father grew up on, we had an enormous garden with enough produce to feed a large family. Preserving the harvest was a necessity. The jars were stored under my parents’ bed, not on shelves as one would expect. As I child, I remember crawling under the bed to find the last jar of pickles, crabapples, or kalyna (cranberries), pushing aside the pickled beets. Now, I long for those pickled beets of my childhood. The connection between the past and present is preserved through this collection. 

My graduation show is dedicated in blessed memory of my father, my Tato.