Oksana Mas

Oksana Mas was born in 1969 in Ilyichevsk in the Odesa district of Ukraine. She graduated from the Grekov Odesa State Art School and the Odesa State University. Mas’s works pay homage to a long-standing Ukrainian tradition of pisanky, colourfully decorated Easter eggs. The present work is a monumental collage made up of a myriad of individually painted egg-shaped elements that have been glued onto a canvas to create a striking, mandala-inspired geometric pattern. Their lacquered finish is evocative of another Slavic folk craft tradition of decorated lacquer boxes. A sphere emerging in the centre of the composition is, in the artist’s view, the most perfect geometrical form, reminiscent of the shape of the Earth and other fundamental natural elements. Both the egg and the sphere are symbols which are understood by people from different cultural and religious backgrounds, making Mas’s works universally accessible.

*The Consignor is donating 100% of the hammer price from the sale of this and other designated artworks, to be sold during Sotheby’s Contemporary Discoveries online sale held from May 13-19, 2022, to the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a not-for-profit humanitarian aid organization that is helping to support families affected by the crisis in Ukraine. In addition, in relation to these designated artworks, Sotheby’s will donate 1) 100% of its Overhead Premium to IRC, and 2a) where the artwork is consigned by Ukrainian artist(s), 100% of its Buyer's Premium to such artist(s), and 2b) for all other artworks, its Buyer's Premium, after deducting expenses, to IRC. No portion of the purchase price is tax-deductible. For more information about the IRC, visit www.rescue.org