A swath of fabric, this piece came together by drenching the fabric in laytex paint, then layed on to canvas, scrunching the wet fabric until the beautiful folds appeared. When it dried, an additional layer of oil paint provided a finish and variations in color. The yellow stripe across the mid-section “cracked” the piece in two. It was originally titled “Yellow Stripe.” I added “Slava Ukraine” when Russia invaded Grandfather Rybat’s homeland of Lviv. He immigrated to Buffalo, NY about 1915 before Russian revolution (1917) ended Tsar Nicholas II monarchy. I left specks of yellow & orange of the original polyester fabric visible (as I do with most of my layered painting), to always remind me of what came before.

Exhibited at Marin MOCA, Novato, CA (2021) "Happenstance" exhibit and Occidental Center for the Arts "Wonders of Worlds" exhibit (2026).

Photographed by Jay Daniel, Black Cat Studio, Novato, CA