Nikolai Shmatko presented his two new works: the marble sculpture "Ukrainian Aurora" and composition "Christ's Appearance to the Twelve Apostles" made of plaster

Ukrainian sculptor Nikolai Shmatko presented his two new works: the marble sculpture "Ukrainian Aurora" and the composition "Christ's Appearance to the Twelve Apostles" made of plaster.

"Aurora is a goddess of the dawn, who lights up a way for travelers and poor people; I decided to focus attention on this, and tried to find a woman who would embody the national pathos", – he said.

– There are many beautiful women in Ukraine, but none of them has such national pathos as Yulia Tymoshenko does, – comments the sculptor. – For me she is the embodiment of a Ukrainian woman – a strong, smart and beautiful one. >>> see all the photos >>>

Nikolai Shmatko prices the sculpture at 500 thousand Euros.

The idea of the composition "Christ's Appearance to the Twelve Apostles" has been matured by the sculptor for about 15 years. Yet, owing to lack of marble, the figures have been made of plaster. The first impression of the composition is as if the Apostles are following you when you change your location. Also, some faces look familiar.

– I depicted the Apostles as not canonic people but as modern ones. For example, their prototypes were my countrymen Aleksey Dmitrenko, Aleksandr Spirin, etc. Only Christ, Peter, Thomas and Judas were depicted in traditional manner, – clears up Nikolai Shmatko. >>> see all the photos >>>

This is sort of a draft work. According to the project, the Apostles and Christ made of white marble must be placed on a 15-meters cross, above them there must be a stylized wreath with lamps lighting up all the composition. Creation of this sculpture will take 100 tons of marble and five years of work. Shmatko prices the sculpture at 1 million 500 thousand Euros.

Gallery "Shmatko & Sons", 20.06.2008 (photos of Rafael Shmatko)