"Luke" Painting

Before I Became an Artist
I was born in 1972 in southern Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union. My childhood was shaped by the shores of the Black Sea, whose beauty and vastness inspired me from an early age.

My father, who loved drawing, introduced me to the world of art. One day a friend invited me to visit his father's studio, and that experience changed everything. For the first time, I discovered that creating beautiful and meaningful works could be more than a hobby—it could be a life's vocation.

I began drawing obsessively, though I showed my work to no one. My early paintings were surreal stories born from the inner struggles of a child growing up in the restrictive atmosphere of the Soviet era. The world within me did not correspond to the world around me. Even as a teenager, I felt like an outsider, convinced that independent thinking could lead to persecution.

At sixteen, I encountered difficulties with the KGB. Together with friends, I even dreamed of escaping abroad in search of freedom. But at eighteen, my life changed completely when I discovered faith in Christ. Love for God and the desire to serve Him became the center of my existence. Art suddenly seemed insignificant. In a passionate act of dedication, I carried all my paintings into the yard and burned them. The fire was enormous, but it marked the beginning of a new journey.

Many years have passed since then. I met my wife, we raised three children, and I became an Orthodox priest. I founded a prison ministry and dedicated much of my life to serving inmates and their families.

Eventually, art returned to my life in a new form. I founded Paradise on Earth, an icon-painting workshop dedicated to preserving and renewing the traditions of sacred art. Over the years, I have created numerous works, organized more than sixty solo exhibitions around the world, and published four exhibition catalogs. Iconography became a central part of my vocation.

I also mastered the art of jewelry making. In 2014, I was awarded the Small Order of Franz Birbaum by the Fabergé Memorial Foundation and received the honorary title of "Chief Master." In 2019, I began working on a book about my prison ministry and the people whose lives I encountered there.

We live in a complex yet inspiring world, filled with stories that deserve to be told.