(The Face of War by Daria Marchenko)
Commenter Jay sent me the image and suggested it for tonight’s post. Ms. Marchenko created it back in 2015 after Putin’s initial invasion of Ukraine. Here’s the details on it from the Australian Broadcasting Company aka ABC:
A young Ukrainian artist has captured global media attention by creating a striking portrait of Russian president Vladimir Putin out of 5,000 bullet shells collected in the separatist east.
Daria Marchenko’s The Face of War – a realistic and politically tinged depiction of Mr Putin in a dark suit and red tie – stands more than two metres tall and dominates the artist’s studio apartment.
“Sleeping in the same room with him was a bit scary at first. But I got used to it,” the 33-year-old artist and graphic designer said.
The 62-year-old Russian leader’s face changes expression under different light, his deep-set eyes turning from gloomy to more light-hearted.
Marchenko – her own right eyebrow pierced and fingers weighed down by heavy metal rings – demonstrates by drawing the window curtains and shining a hand-held lamp around her work.
“He can be proud, confused or serious,” she said.
“He can look like a person on a Soviet poster or he can be Superman.”
Her story has been covered by Britain’s top media outlets and major European and Australian papers and television channels.
But the artist has received barely a mention in Russia – Ukraine’s giant neighbour where Mr Putin’s approval rating is huge and denial of any involvement in the 16-month conflict is ever-present in the state-dominated media.
Only Russia’s popular Moskovsky Komsomolets broadsheet broke ranks by devoting a two-sentence paragraph to Marchenko’s work last month.
Marchenko has not concealed her deep-seated suspicion Putin personally instigated a conflict that has killed nearly 7,000 people since breaking out after Kiev’s ouster of a Kremlin-backed president.
“When people see his expression change, it reveals certain things,” she said.
“To me, this war is different from all others because it is built on a lie”.
Buckets and wooden crates filled with bullet cases occupy the centre of the artist’s small room.
Her first handful of shells came from her boyfriend, an active member of the Euromaidan movement that toppled the corruption-stained and deeply unpopular president Viktor Yanukovych and forced him into self-imposed Russian exile.
But her art supplies now come from friends fighting across the war zone in eastern Ukraine’s industrial heartland.
Much more at the link.
Here’s today’s address by President Zelenskyy. Transcript after the jump.
War for Ukraine Update 66: The Face of WarPost + Comments (72)