SPOKEN STATE - UKRAINE
We Are Here — Address to the Nation
Volodymyr Zelensky · 2022
The Work
MEDIUM
Acrylic on Dibond aluminium
DIMENSIONS
915 × 610 mm (2:3 ratio)
COLOURS
Cerulean Blue (Hue), Cadmium Yellow (Hue)
SPEECH
We Are Here — Address to the Nation, 2022
SPEAKER
Volodymyr Zelensky
LOCATION
Kyiv, Ukraine
About the flag
The Ukrainian flag — blue (sky) over yellow (wheat fields), ratio 2:3
Historical Context
The moment: February 25, 2022 — the day after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine — the largest military assault in Europe since World War II. Within hours, Western governments were urging President Zelensky to evacuate Kyiv. He refused.
The following day, Zelensky filmed himself with members of his government on the streets of Kyiv — a simple, direct, unedited video statement. He said: 'I am here. We are not putting down our weapons. We are defending our country.' The message, shared immediately across social media, was seen by hundreds of millions of people within hours.
The video became one of the defining images of the 2022 invasion: a head of state who chose to stay, face the cameras on the street, and hold the line — in contrast to the predictions of intelligence services who had estimated Kyiv would fall within 72 hours.
Ukraine's resistance — and the global response to it — transformed the geopolitical landscape of Europe. Zelensky's words on that street in Kyiv on February 25, 2022 are now part of history.
The Speech
"I am here. We are not going to lay down our weapons. We are going to defend our country. Our weapons are our truth, our land, our children, our families. We are not afraid of anything."
Context
Volodymyr Zelensky, filmed on the streets of Kyiv, February 25, 2022 — one day after Russia's full-scale invasion. Broadcast via social media; viewed by hundreds of millions globally within 24 hours.
Who Is Volodymyr Zelensky? How Ukraine’s President Caught the World’s Attention | WSJ
'We are here': Ukrainian President Zelenskiy on the streets of Kyiv
Process
Each Spoken State work begins with the speech. The text is transcribed, counted, and mapped to the geometry of the flag — word by word, colour field by colour field — before a single brushstroke is made.
1. The Aluminium Dibond is sized to the width of McGinty’s 30 year old T Square. The surface is lightly sanded, primed and 4 coats of gesso with a final two coats of Titanium White to create the the surface on which to work. The Surface becomes a drawing board.
2. The Ukrainian flag's two-stripe simplicity — blue above, yellow below — creates a horizontal horizon line. The speech text crosses that horizon, connecting sky and earth.
3. Zelensky's words were distributed so that key phrases about freedom and resistance fall across the boundary between blue and yellow — the meeting point of sky and land.
4. This is the most recent work in the series (2022) and the only one responding to an ongoing conflict at the time of creation.
Limited Edition Prints
The Original Flag Painting is scanned using a museum quality, high resolution Cruse scanner.
Limited edition museum quality archival prints are available, signed and numbered by the artist.
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