Kathryn Dutchak

Year of birth: 1988
Where do you live: Interior British Columbia
Your education: BFA, OCAD Continuing Studies
Describe your art in three words: Deep Feminine Hard
Your discipline: Mix Media Illustration
Website

What inspired you to start working in illustration, and how has your artistic journey evolved since then?

I have been an artist since I was six years old, as my father and my grandmother had the hand-eye coordination to begin with. I think my family talks through making things, and illustration came to me because my style happened to do better there than in visual art. I have had a difficult past, so illustration was a way to stay out of people’s lives and still fulfill myself.

What do you hope viewers take away from your work, especially those unfamiliar with the context of your home country?

I hope that viewers have a historical representation of what was going on for individuals during certain time periods, so for them to take away even the colors or the textures would be enough for me for them to help rebuild history in case communication couldn’t go through during certain life events.

Can you describe the process you go through when creating a piece, from concept to completion?

I have a tendency to work on the fly, that in my head I know the sentiment behind who I am. At the moment, it comes down to all my experience as an artist and a person to put it together. I may have an idea or a sketch, but alot of it happens instantly.

Kathryn Dutchak | Sunflower

Your art often explores themes of Ukrainian identity. How do you navigate representing your culture through design in a foreign context, like North America?

This has been one of the worst cases of untangling assimilation and social problems and certain ethnic identities. We have struggled for generations rising above the working class, so for me to have an opportunity as an artist is extremely controversial coming from our background, as the talent may be there, but the recognition that it could be a real thing to be doing with other’s is extremely guarded, especially in the face of real adversity. However, without it, we do not have a voice, and with a voice a history, and to lose that is so serious, to regain it is worth the personal sacrifice.

What is the significance of the materials or medium you choose for your work? Are there specific mediums that allow you to convey your message most effectively?

I was using resin and natural products as our area was hit by cyber-attacks, so for me to capture the misery and the color and the hardship was capturing in stone how sick and tainted my life was at the time, as the war overseas had broken out, and many women like me were suffering really badly with the antics of Al-Qaeda making shopping difficult and other white supremacy movements. Since it has gotten easier, I have switched to bright colors and folk art to regain my trust in humanity.

Can you tell us about your series of illustrations and what each one represents in terms of the broader message you are trying to communicate?

The sunflower pendants were supposed to represent the peace protest that the people had put together when the war broke out. It was extremely controversial, but the passive resistance here and overseas was so intense I had a hard time accessing the social media accounts. The weather was so bad that year, and we suspected the war had damaged the environment, so the petals involved were supposed to be preserved at that time in case we had radiation in the atmosphere.
The token was my way of interpreting war as a soldier and the embroidery as a person, keeping the color dark and preserving the way our society these days is clinically removed from life, so to have it in synthetic resin represents how our future world can’t really have the relics of the old days without incasing it in something indestructable, like some kind of response to nuclear war.
Talisman was my vain attempt at recreating some kind of faith-born culture towards a group that was heavily persecuted for not being up-to-date enough. It’s a mix of the peace-loving mountain culture that I am currently from with the resin work done by somebody with almost nothing to work with at the time, but still strong enough to hold up hope. It directly contrasts the super-pop-vapid lifestyle that many of those wishing to start the war were championing as a sign of strength and indifference. It’s the kind of thing that all people have in history when things go bad, so their culture is affordable enough to keep with them, even if they lose everything, but that’s the thing that puts a civilian it a bad spot when the world shifts and people are moving in.
The cheery red flower folk art is the first time my family has approached the old styles of our home country. Like the Snow Leopard Cover Book design shows, the traditional North American drawing that my family is criticized for as it is technically sound artistically but without strong modern art strengths. However, after the war, tensions over here eased up, I have been trying to do the traditional folk art to regain what’s been stolen, in light of the violence overseas. It is so cheerful, it is good for my therapy, and its simplicity reminds me that our roots had what was in it to still be alive even if you lost everything.
The wheel flower painting was the next step in that direction. That type of folk painting is ancient, and it’s the type of thing you’d see on kitschy wooden lawn ornaments or old diners that are a bit home-style. As an illustrator who is really getting pushed into AI and tech, this return to the worst of it is supposed to reborn the love that we have as people and humans through cheap liquid paint and themes that are taken for granted, not the power that illustration as a fine machine can possess. It is extremely controversial to include such snubbed artwork, that I appreciate your time with me.

How do you balance your cultural influences with the need to adapt your work to new audiences and environments?

Personally, as a woman who has been persecuted by the online rape industry through social media and other types of criminal activities, my perspective is extremely disordered as many things in my life were cut off when they were not supposed to be, like access to online deliveries, or appointments at hair salons. This is part of the reason it took me this long to submit my work from 2022-2025. So it’s honestly just a guess every day, as women’s social justice rights have been under fire, so our ability to reason how to function with new audiences is as strong as it used to be, as our rights to perceive have been tampered with.