in search of the unknown hero*

War brings suffering, death, grief, and sorrow. War oppresses and exhausts. War destroys and kills. No matter how much joy there is in victories, the pain of loss lingers forever. And in war, ordinary people become heroes, whether they want to or not—probably, for the most part, no.

Who are these heroes? Which of them will we meet and say: "Thank you for your life and thank you for your death"? How many of them are there now—unknown heroes? How many will there be by the end of this war? How many have there been in all the wars that our people, other nations, and all of humanity have endured? Who were they before the war, who have they become now, and who will they be after? What did they look like then? What do they look like now? Those who are fighting now; those who have already died; those who will still die; and those who will live.

Heroes die too. For a time, they remain in the memories of their comrades, their families, and their friends, but then they too fade away... A few hundred documentary and artistic artifacts will remain, dedicated to the already known heroes and events, and to those whom these artifacts and monuments will make known. A few myths will persist, sometimes disappearing only to be revived again; and their contribution to the collective unconscious will endure...

In searching for unknown heroes somewhere within my feelings—perhaps in my memory, but more likely in my personal unconscious—I do not fear the images in which they appear. On the contrary, I look deeply into them and recreate them on paper or canvas, and in doing so, I find hope. Hope for memory. Hope for the ability not to lose faith in the value of life. Hope for gratitude to every hero.

Wodeman

August 2024

*The word "hero" refers to anyone who defends human freedom and dignity with weapons or through hard work, risking their life in this world for the victory of good over evil, and often losing their life in this struggle.

**The loss of life refers to the death of the physical body or the infliction of such physical or psychological injuries that the person's continued existence in this world, until the death of their physical body, becomes a daily torment and suffering.

The first phase of the In Search of the Unknown Hero project was exhibited at the 'Museum of Ideas' gallery in Lviv from September 12 to October 12, 2024. 

About the Exhibition

The Museum of Ideas presented the exhibition In Search of the Unknown Hero by Kyiv-based artist Wodeman.

The exhibition consisted of seven portraits, 26 x 18 cm, created with pencils on paper (first hall), and seven canvases, 160 x 110 cm, painted in oils (second hall). All the works were created in 2024 and share the same title—Unknown Hero.

“These portraits,” the artist notes, “are a search for the image of the unknown hero, not by attempting to imagine them, but through direct recreation from unconscious inner sources, although there is a sense that the collective unconscious is also reflected in them.”

The traditional definition tells us that a portrait is a painted, sculpted, or photographic depiction of a person or group of people, as well as a corresponding genre of visual art.

So, can a visual object be called a portrait if it is created not as a result of observing and interpreting the appearance of a real person, but through the attempt to find and feel the images of imaginary people within one's own unconscious, to grasp them and bring them from imaginary to real, from unconscious to conscious? And what if this is an effort to imagine the images of unknown people who give their lives for yours, even though they themselves would rather live on?

If so, who are we seeing in front of us? If not, what are we seeing when we look at these drawings and paintings? And most importantly - what do we feel when we gaze at these images and allow them to gaze back at us?

Museum of Ideas

Lviv, September 2024

Catalogues:

I Search Of The Unknown Hero Catalogue.pdf

Download PDF • 1.05MB

In Search of the Unknown Hero. Continued...

Further exploring the meaning of the Unknown Hero, I transformed seven separate mask-like paintings into a single artwork. This continuous arrangement, devoid of gaps, reflects my attempt to evoke the flow of time, the interconnectedness of life and death, and the dissolution of individuality into a collective experience.

The artwork begins with an unmodified image resembling a superhero’s mask. For me, this was a reflection on the archetypal image of a soldier-hero - someone embodying power and resilience, the qualities we traditionally associate with heroism. At the same time, I wanted to show that this "mask" creates a barrier: between those observing war from safety and those fighting it on the frontlines, and even within the soldier, concealing their humanity behind the necessity to act with strength, courage, and violence. I painted this image in one quick session to capture an imagined moment of funding the hero within my unconscious.

In the second image, I attempted to show how the heroic façade begins to shift and distort, revealing the fragility behind the strength shown in the first image. I wanted this transition to show the tension between outward resilience and inner vulnerability. As I moved toward the third image, I tried to push this further - allowing the features to become ambiguous, and increasingly consumed by the forces of war.

By the time I reached the central image, I wanted to create a sense of obliteration. Traces of human features had already been obscured by layers of crosses and textures. Here, the face disappears entirely, leaving only the crosses. This was my attempt to reflect on the anonymity of heroism - the countless lives erased by war, remembered only as sacrifices for a collective cause. I thought about all the unknown heroes whose identities are lost to history and who might only exist as ideas of courage and loss.

The two images flanking the central void took on a life of their own during the process. While painting them, I instinctively replaced the "eyes" with yellow and blue stripes - the colors of the Ukrainian flag (I deliberately used sky blue instead of dark blue, even though when the Ukrainian flag was officially approved in 1992, dark blue was chosen over sky blue for practical reasons: sky blue flags fade very quickly in the sun. Historically, both dark blue (синій) and sky blue (блакитний) have been used, and the sky blue version of the Ukrainian flag has always been much closer to my heart and holds deeper meaning for me - but that’s a different story).

I realized that, no matter how much I tried to distance myself from it, I could not escape the reality of the ongoing war in Ukraine. The yellow-blue colors became a symbol of my context and the resilience of the Ukrainian people. I hoped these stripes would serve as a reminder of the sacrifices made not only for Ukraine’s survival but also for values that extend far beyond our borders.

When I stepped back and looked at these two images after they were completed, I saw how the yellow and blue stripes placed adjacent to the central void brought the work into a specific historical and cultural moment. These stripes ground the anonymous figures of the unknown heroes in my present, reminding me about hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian defenders, whom I will never know... While their identities are obscured by war, their contributions to Ukraine’s survival and the defense of broader human values are undeniable.

In the sixth image, I wanted to reverse the process of dissolution seen in the earlier images. Coming after the void of the central сanvas, I reintroduced faint traces of human features. I hoped to create a bridge, leading from the loss of identity back to something resembling a sense of self. However, I didn’t want this identity to feel individual - it needed to carry the weight of universality, softened and faded as if it had absorbed both personal and collective experiences of war.

The seventh image was my attempt to offer a resolution. I kept it minimalist, monochrome, and meditative, aiming for it to feel timeless and universal. I wanted this face to dissolve into the surrounding space, suggesting a merging with eternity or infinity. For me, this was a way to depict heroism as something that transcends the individual, becoming deeply personal yet eternal. I hoped it would contrast sharply with the intensity of the superhero mask, bringing viewers to a quiet, contemplative conclusion about the journey from individuality to transcendence. Just like with the first image, this one remained unchanged from the first phase of the project, when all paintings were made in a quick single session as the means to avoid influences and reveal the inner feeling about the subject ‘here and now’.

So, what is all this for? For me, it’s a way to challenge the traditional perceptions of heroism. I wanted to confront viewers - and myself - with existential questions: is heroism about individual recognition, or does it transcend the self, dissolving into collective memory and sacrifice? With the transition from a defined mask to the absence of a face, and finally to a meditative presence, I wanted to explore the idea that heroism isn’t about permanence or fame. Heroism is an inner journey of becoming and giving.

I hope that the central faceless image, representing anonymity in heroism, invites viewers to stop and reflect on the forgotten and erased contributions that sustain humanity in times of crisis. Surrounding it, I placed distorted faces with lingering human features to remind us all of the fragility and mortality of those who sacrifice. I wanted to move away from the idea of heroes as invincible figures.

The yellow and blue stripes ground the work in my own context as a Ukrainian artist. They connect the universal themes of anonymity and sacrifice to a specific nation and its struggle. I wanted to highlight the duality of heroism as both deeply personal and profoundly collective. At the same time, I wanted to show that these sacrifices transcend individual lives to become part of a larger cultural continuum in the eternal struggle of good versus evil.

The second and sixth images became critical moments in the sequence. In the second, I tried to signal the beginning of a loss of individuality, setting the stage for the hero’s journey toward dissolution and sacrifice. In the sixth, I aimed to suggest a return to identity, but one that is no longer bound by personal attributes - it is something universal and eternal.

With the final image, I hope viewers will reflect on the essence of existence and the timeless nature of sacrifice. By stripping away specific identity and creating an image where the viewer might see a young woman at one moment, a young man at another, and ultimately - simply a human being in a state of quietness, transcendence, tranquility, elevation, and peace, I wanted to invite everyone to see themselves in the unknown hero.

With this artwork I didn’t aim at depicting an unknown hero in a traditional meaning, I sought to explore the concept of heroism itself. By merging seven images from the first phase of the project - when they were merely seven intuitive visions of unknown heroes, emerged from my own unconscious or perhaps from a collective unconscious too - into a single narrative sequence, modifying five of them while leaving the first and last unchanged, and applying the same approach as in the first phase (creating each image in a quick single session to release spontaneous imaginations in their purest form), I aimed to create a meditative space. A space that connects the personal and the universal, the finite and the infinite, the specific historical moment and broader reflections on identity, mortality, and memory.

Wodeman

December 2024

view images and video of the "In Search of the Unknown Hero, Continued..." artwork here