HRYHORII ZGHUROVETS

"Butterflies" is a series of six large-scale figurative portraits bound by a shared visual grammar. Each canvas presents a single figure whose head is partially concealed by a symbolic object - bandages, barbed wire, internet cables, an ammunition belt, gold chains, or a mourning ribbon. Each holds something in their mouth and is accompanied by butterflies of a specific accent color against heavily textured, atmospheric backgrounds.Conceived in response to the war in Ukraine, the series reflects six distinct states of human presence exposed by conflict.

A child losing their childhood.
A prisoner of conscience.
An individual trapped within propaganda.
A soldier who has normalized violence.
A corrupt official profiteering from catastrophe.
A mother enduring the unendurable.The butterfly is the sole unifying element across all works. Rather than a conventional symbol of hope, it represents what remains of freedom when everything else is confiscated - the only element that remains kinetic.

Artist statement

I paint silence: the silence of violence, propaganda, grief, complicity, and oblivion. Having grown up in Ukraine and now living in Budapest, war is my baseline context. Yet, I avoid literal warfare; I focus on what war does to ordinary people, standing cities, and fragile symbols.My figures are never fully disclosed - their faces are partially obscured by bandages, chains, or tape. This concealment is an alternative form of visibility: the more a face is hidden, the clearer its suffering becomes. The same logic applies to landscapes: a deconstructed flag speaks more profoundly than one raised high.