CHARACTERS AND PLOTS OF UKRAINIAN FOLK CULTURE IN THE GRAPHIC WORKS OF SERHIY YAKUTOVYCH: CHOICE AND INTERPRETATION

Abstract

The article reveals the phenomenon of Serhiy Yakutovych's work as a unique and conceptually rich phenomenon in the history of Ukrainian fine art of the second half of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The aim of the study is to comprehensively understand the artist's artistic work, in particular, to analyse the specifics of his visual language, individual style, as well as the key concepts that form the aesthetic and ideological basis of his work. The article highlights the main strategies of rethinking the folklore tradition in S. Yakutovych's graphics, which are manifested in a deep transformation of folk and literary images, comprehended through the author's optics. The mechanisms of creating the figurative space, which combines symbolic thinking, mythopoetic motifs and historical allusions, are considered. The author reveals a multi-level structure of his works based on the interaction of archetypes, metaphors, semiotic codes and cultural references. The close connection between the artist's visual language and the folklore and mythological tradition is established, and the role of historical memory in the formation of his aesthetic principles is outlined. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the influence of Ukrainian classical literature, in particular the works of Mykola Gogol, on the artist's artistic thinking. For the first time, a comprehensive analysis of S. Yakutovych's work as a visual interpreter of the national myth is carried out, showing how his illustrations go beyond textual representation, turning into independent philosophical and cultural narratives. The article discusses graphic modelling techniques that combine baroque expressiveness, symbolic richness, allegoricality and modern visual means, in particular cinematic imagery. It is proved that S. Yakutovych appears not only as a virtuoso graphic artist, but also as a visual thinker whose work is a unique form of intellectual and cultural comprehension of the national experience. His artistic style combines historical reflection, deep knowledge of folklore heritage, individual philosophy of image and an innovative approach to graphic expression, forming a unique cultural code of contemporary Ukrainian visual art.