Information about the work
The painting Self-Portrait in National Dress [Avtoportret v natsionalnomu] (canvas, oil, 1988, transferred to the Khmelnytskyi Regional Art Museum collection by the Directorate of Art Exhibitions of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine in 1991) belongs to her early period, yet demonstrates remarkable painterly maturity. The exhibited piece is less about exact anatomical likeness and more about the subject’s internal state and spiritual world—about anxious reflections before beginning a new work and the age-old dilemma of choice. Nina Buryak depicts herself in traditional Ukrainian attire, which serves not as a nod to fashion or superficial ethnography, but as a philosophical exploration of her own identity and the artist’s mission within society. Notably, the artist engaged with these profound questions well before the restoration of Ukraine’s independence. Visually, the piece fuses the finest traditions of the national school with modernist idioms. Despite the potent color contrasts between the mottled red background and the black-and-white figure punctuated by small flashes of yellow and blue, the composition remains harmoniously balanced across its color fields. The deliberate absence of superfluous detail accentuates the sitter’s subtle psychological state.
Oil on canvas. 120 × 92
