Constable: Trump inspires Lake Zurich artist to honor him
“Americans, like human beings everywhere, believe many things that are obviously untrue,” wrote Kurt Vonnegut in his 1969 classic, “Slaughterhouse-Five.” In our divided nation of today, that might be the only thing on which we can agree.
As many Americans were this fall, artist Oksana Grineva was so deeply concerned about the presidential election that she couldn't concentrate.
“I was so worried,” says Grineva, a 51-year-old Russian immigrant who is represented by Fancy Art in Lake Zurich. “I didn't paint during the election.”
Friday's inauguration of Donald Trump spurred hundreds of thousands of women and men across the nation to march Saturday to make their voices heard, and it did the same for Grineva.
“I want to cry now,” texts Grineva, echoing a common sentiment before adding “many haters cried, too. My (tears) are from pride ... Our dreams will come true with new leader.”
Seeing anti-Trump art around the world emboldens her to provide a counter opinion, says Grineva.
“I need to make my paintings,” Grineva says as she unveils a series of portraits in oil on canvas honoring our 45th president. “I was inspired.”
She calls her painting of a determined-looking Trump in front of a U.S. flag “Strength With Dedication.” Her piece “In Good Hands” shows Trump gently cradling the globe in his hands. Grineva's “New Beginning” painting of an egg features profiles of Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin superimposed over a world map with a second image of Trump's body mirroring that of a dove to represent peace.
“All the Russians I know here are for Trump,” says Grineva, whose native language is Russian. She says she moved to the United States in 1996, became a citizen in 2000 and voted for the first time this November because of everything she heard from her friends and on Fox News about how Trump would bring back jobs, fight terrorism and restore law and order.
She puts those optimistic thoughts into her painting of Trump illuminated by beams of light from the heavens.
“Sunshine will come on him because people think God sent him to America to make things better,” a smiling Grineva says. “He's going to do a lot of good.”
Married to an American-born computer programmer, Grineva notes that some friends and relatives have “unfriended” her on Facebook because of different political views.
Until she started her Trump series last month, Grineva painted more traditional portraits. Her 2009 painting of then-President Barack Obama looks very much like the photograph she studied to paint it. Born in Tomsk, Siberia, Grineva can't remember a time when she wasn't an artist.
“They say I started at (age) 3,” she says. Her family moved to Ukraine, where she studied at private art schools and graduated from the Samokisha Art College. She got a graduate degree at Kharkov Art Academy and moved to Ankara, Turkey.
“In Turkey, I didn't know anybody, so I brought a bag of paintings,” Grineva says, explaining how that work landed her a gig with an auction house, where she painted scenes of the Black Sea and realistic portraits of world leaders. Since her move to the United States, she's painted murals in private homes and businesses, portraits on commission, and female nudes. An impressionist piece Grineva painted of Chicago sold for $2,500, says George Vodin, president of Fancy Art.
Just as some are dumbfounded as to how anyone could like Trump, Grineva doesn't understand why anybody doesn't like him.
“There are artists everywhere protesting. Everybody should support him, not fight him,” Grineva says, adding that she will do her part. “I want to make more paintings because I have more ideas.”
And, as Vonnegut might conclude, so it goes.