«Can it really be true? Is the time truly coming when it will be possible to proclaim to the world the existence of our state, to feel oneself a citizen of an independent country? I’m not a fighter, not a hero, but my Ukrainian identity has always boiled within me, urging me to find a worthy place (not that of a 'younger brother'!) for my people, to revive the sense of national identity that had been destroyed, deformed, and devalued over centuries. All my life, I’ve tried to promote this by the means available to me – through my art.» – These confessions of the author are found in the book «I Speak as in Confession» by Vasyl Lopata, the final part of his autobiographical trilogy.
 

Vasyl Lopata is a People's Artist of Ukraine, a laureate of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize, winner of the international bookplate award (England), first prize winner of Prominvestbank of Ukraine, and a recipient of the literary awards named after Oles Honchar and Lesya Ukrainka.
 

He is an honorary citizen of Winnipeg and Brandon in Canada.
 

Vasyl Lopata – artist, writer, public figure – has created over 700 graphic and painting works and illustrated nearly 70 publications, including «Kobzar» by Taras Shevchenko, «Prince Sviatoslav’s Dream» and «Good Earnings» by Ivan Franko, «Marusia Churai» by Lina Kostenko, «Ukrainian Folk Dumas», «Taras Bulba» and «Terrible Vengeance» by Mykola Gogol, «Life and Works of Hryhorii Skovoroda», «The Tale of Ihor's Campaign», among others. He also designed Ukraine’s national currency, its diplomatic and domestic passports.
 

In addition, he wrote and illustrated compelling books: «Hopes and Disappointments or the Metamorphoses of the Hryvnia» and autobiographical stories: «Somewhere in the Depths of My Heart,» «Show Me My Path, Lord,» and «I Speak as in Confession.»
 

Vasyl Lopata's work is an artistic interpretation, first of all, of Ukrainian history, and against its background – of our existence, the great deeds of the people and their historically significant figures. 
 

V. Lopata works in various genres and techniques. But in engraving, both black and white and multi-color, he has achieved particularly high skill. He is a brilliant engraver who knows no obstacles in the practical implementation of his idea, sparing neither strength nor patience to achieve the desired result. The artist makes engravings in seven, eight, nine boards, which is an unprecedented example in Ukrainian graphics.
 

When Ukraine needed to create its own currency, leading graphic artists were invited. Asked by a UNIAN journalist about the design of the hryvnia, Lopata replied: «It was a competitive project. Six artists submitted sketches, and mine was chosen as the best. … I wanted our money to be truly national… It’s a state symbol – alongside the flag, coat of arms, and anthem… I wanted our currency to be beautiful…»
 

In «I Speak as in Confession,» Lopata writes of that time: «This was an invaluable period in my life when I took part in creating one of the nation’s symbols – our currency. I felt both joy and pride, but also bitterness and disappointment due to hasty, unfortunate changes that harmed the visual quality of the hryvnia… I simply don’t understand why the princes on the banknotes are again depicted with beards. Why do their vague images resemble Moscovite streltsy rather than noble Kyivan princes and statesmen? Why return to entrenched, imposed stereotypes?»
 

In addition to his graphic talents, Lopata revealed himself to be an exceptional painter. Without abandoning graphics, he created paintings full of symbolism and deep spiritual and poetic content: «The Eternal Call», «Annunciation», «Resurrection of Christ», «Christmas», and the cycle of paintings «Silhouettes» and a number of portraits. In these works, the artist seems to view himself and Ukraine from a cosmic distance, uncovering timeless divine truths.
 

«I love the portrait genre deeply – both as a viewer and as an artist,» Lopata admits. «Every portrait tells the story of a unique individual in all their complexity.»
 

He painted 52 portraits of his mother. «My mother had such an expressive face; she reminded me of late Rembrandt portraits… I used her image as the heroine in works by Taras Shevchenko, Ivan Franko, Lesya Ukrainka, and Lina Kostenko.»
 

«In Rome, in the quiet, sunlit corridors of the Pontifical College, in its modest but cozy chapel where prayer flowed so sincerely… I was inspired to create portraits of church leaders and fathers who served God and their people with devotion. There were to be 32 in total.
 

The number and complexity of the task both frightened and attracted me… I devoured everything on the subject, reading and studying a flood of information that seemed to find its way to me… I also hoped that by being involved in these portraits, I might, even indirectly, atone for my sins and cleanse myself of my atheistic past.»
 

For two and a half years, which this responsible work took, I visited libraries, museums, churches, and then I locked myself in my studio, like a monk in a cell, and worked ascetically, intensely, and concentratedly, moving from portrait to portrait, through centuries, years, and events." 
 

And so the series «Metropolyts of Kyiv and Galicia», the idea of creating which belonged to Professor, Doctor of Theology Bishop Sophrony the Wise, was completed. It included portraits of Popes Clement VIII and John Paul II.
 

In the book «I Speak as in Confession,» writer V. Lopata tells a lot and interestingly about his many travels in different countries of the world. The reader seems to be really traveling himself and seeing everything that the artist's eye captures and the soul of a deeply honest and intelligent person feels.
 

Here’s his recollection of visiting the Vatican.
«One of the most significant moments of my life happened in the Vatican: a meeting with the Pope… This was my third such honor, and this time, my wife was with me. A sleepless night. Anxiety. We passed through three security checkpoints. One was guarded by the famous Swiss Guards, still dressed in traditional uniforms, perhaps designed by Michelangelo. It felt like participating in a theatrical performance… And then the climax: the Holy Father appeared, accompanied by his aides – and I didn't even notice how the tension disappeared and I was filled with a hot joy, a sense of trust in this elderly man from whom a luminous, mystical energy radiated. The warmth of his gaze, his genuine kindness – not mere protocol – touched my soul. I understood how he could forgive even the person who tried to assassinate him.
Our brief conversation was in Ukrainian, so the interpreter who accompanied us wasn’t needed. The Holy Father warmly accepted the portrait I had created.»
 

That engraved portrait of Pope John Paul II – perhaps the only one of its kind – is now part of the Vatican Museum’s papal collection.
 

Meanwhile, in the Lopata family, a cherished copy of the engraving remains: a family heirloom bearing the Pope’s embossed personal seal and his handwritten signature.
 

Back in 2000, the esteemed Vasyl Ivanovych Lopata let me read the manuscript of «Somewhere in the Depths of My Heart.» I devoured it in two nights and felt as if I had returned to my childhood. I told the author that everything he wrote touched me deeply, as if he had written about my own family – my mother, my grandmother. He replied: «You see, you’re from Western Ukraine, and I’m from the East, yet our way of life, our morality, and our traditions are the same. And still, some say we are different, that we are not united.»
 

In the second book of the trilogy, «Show Me My Path, Lord» (2005), poetic reflection on childhood experiences shifts to deep storytelling, shaped by ancestral piety and illuminated by the judgment and forgiveness in his mother’s and grandmother’s eyes.
 

We open the book «To the bright memory of my mother Anna Antonivna Lopata I dedicate it» is written at the top, and at the bottom is a portrait of the mother in the middle of a wheat field, she is attentively, hopefully looking at the road along which her son Vasya is to come to her. 
 

The beginning of the book is a conversation with a mother who has departed into the afterlife and looks at her son from heaven, from where his every step is visible. The entire work is a confession in one breath, a continuous melody flowing from the soul... If only this conversation with the mother were the end of the entire book, even then it would be complete and complete, because everything is here: a lyrical confession, belated repentance and reconciliation in union with the heavenly and the earthly. 
 

And – as a summary: «Here it is, my life path, which I walk, learning to live from my own mistakes, intuitive insights, belated understanding. The path that begins from our hut through the beaten path… And fate, fate across the vastness of the earth and my life: Moscow, Leningrad, the small Baltics… divine Italy… Huge, so different America… and my Ukraine, which for me is better than, gentler, warmer even in the cold… My heart is torn to it, I dream of it at night, ideally elevated and dirty, proud and humiliated. The Lord chose it for me, or me for it – and I completely belong to it, to this land, to these people, familiar and unfamiliar. And may everyone forgive me, a sinner, whom I have involuntarily offended, disliked, and ungrateful!»
 

Years ago, little Vasyl walked beside his mother; they were hurrying somewhere. Suddenly, his mother stopped, listening.
 

«Something unfamiliar, gently quiet, touched my child’s heart…
– Mama, what was that?
She stood silently, enchanted.
– That, Vasya, was a cuckoo singing for your happiness and many years of life. It sang sweetly – thank it.»
 

And the prophecy came true. A life full of blessings awaited the gifted artist. Many kinds of happiness. But the joy of meeting Regina proved to be a blessed turning point – affirmed by everything that followed.
 

«She was worth waiting for – not just 28 years, but a lifetime. Everything I’ve created has been inspired by her. Faithful not just in words but in deeds, she made every condition possible for my work, shielding me from life’s troubles. My muse, my helper, my advisor, my tireless model. No one listens the way she does, sharing in my worries, doubts, and joys…
 

I always miss her, even when she is busy with her music or her students in the next room… And if we have to be apart for a long time (I don’t know, we are robbing ourselves), I look forward to the call every day to hear her sweet voice… I want to be near her so much, because I miss my other half so much, whose nature is in harmony with mine, who, the only one who knows my soul, completes it, without whom I am an orphan in this world. And if there is a guardian angel somewhere (and he does exist!) he looks like my wife.»