Svitlana Postlega is a talented Ukrainian artist who recreates iconic paintings using plasticine. Her portfolio consists of three-dimensional replicas of some of the most famous works of art in history, such as The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo, Vitruvian Man by Leonardo Da Vinci, and Kissing by Alex Gray.
43-year-old Svitlana makes a living as an economist at the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. She took up plasticine modelling as a way to relax and forget her problems. She often works throughout the night to fight depression, which she developed as a result of her divorce.
The painstaking process involves mixing up her children’s modelling clay to achieve the exact colors. Then, she needs to assemble various pieces of clay to create the actual artworks, which sometimes take as long as two months to complete. The finished masterpieces are astonishingly similar to the original pieces.
“My work is monotonous and hard,” Svitlana admits. “Once, about 9 years ago, while I was playing with my kids, I found that plasticine really helped me forget about my problems. I touched it, started to create something and, during the process, felt myself becoming calm.”
“So then I started to make more and more figures from plasticine and place them into a single picture,” she explained. “The result was unexpectedly successful, so I continued to create pictures on childish themes for my daughters.”
“After a couple of years, I became divorced and fell into a heavy depression. My older daughter Kate recommended I turn my negative emotions into producing recreations. We have a huge book with paintings by famous artists, so we looked through it and my first work was ‘The Last Day of Pompeii’ by Karl Bryullov.”
Svitlana said that when she creates, she forgets about food or sleep. “I can do it all night long, and honestly, at that time of my divorce creating really helped me cope. Right now I am okay to be alone, and I create by works with a big smile.”
Although her pieces are phenomenally good, Svitlana is yet to receive recognition for her work. “My doors are open for all those who want to see it, but honestly nobody knows about me and my plasticine for several reasons,” she said. “I really don’t have friends who understand the beauty of it.”
“The only people who inspire me and buy plasticine for me again and again are my daughters. They say they believe in my talent, but I think they just say it to support me. Three years ago, we were trying to put together an exhibition, but sadly this idea failed as nobody expressed interest. I was just standing at my spot with pictures, nobody liked it.”
Well, I think Svitlana’s work is really quite admirable and extraordinary, given the fact that she manages to do all this in spite of having a full-time job. I do hope she keeps doing it for a long time and gets the recognition she deserves!
Photos: Svitlana Postelga/Facebook
Source: Lost at E Minor
