TRADITIONAL SYMBOLS TRANSFORMED TO COMMUNICATE IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Mr. Kaufman worked on Archbishop Borys’ coat of arms/logo for two years and he has brought an itinerary of the project to help us understand how an artist works, from concept to completion.

Among many artistic works of Volodymyr Kaufman there is a logo for the Ukrainian Catholic University and a modern coat of arms of the Paris Eparchy of Saint Volodymyr the Great.

He has been the lead-artist at Dzyga – a cultural phenomenon in Lviv that has sоwn seeds for the flourishing of contemporary art in Lviv and throughout Ukraine. On Saturday  November 2^nd, his exhibit on the war and our increasingly complacent reaction to it opened at the Ukrainian Museum in New York.

The Coat of Arms of Archbishop and Metropolitan Borys Gudziak

The coat of arms uses a laconic modern style reflecting the semiotics of a contemporary logo. The Trinitarian, Christocentric, Eucharistic, and Old-Kyivan accents are clearly discernible. The coat of arms is not in the form of a militaristic shield, but of a chalice as a symbol of the Pascal bloodless sacrifice.

The trident, the main element, is a sign of St. Volodymyr the Great’s acceptance in 988 of the faith in the Triune God and symbolizes the fullness of Divinity. Its crimson color represents the sacrifice of Christ, the martyrs, and wine of the Eucharist. Gold is the color of Divinity and of bread. The Son of God becomes man and sheds his blood, accepting death on the cross to witness in this world to God’s eternal love and glory.

The cross in the center symbolizes the Savior’s Easter victory. Through the Cross – to the Resurrection. This devotion to Christ and the Cross is shown by the princes and passion-bearers Sts. Borys and Hlib, sons of Volodymyr, representatives of the first generation of the baptism of Rus’-Ukraine, and the first saints canonized on Kyivan land. Their bowed heads — vivid fraternal benevolence — exemplify an interpersonal relationship of harmony, peace, and joy, reflecting the interpersonal love in the Holy Trinity.

The motto Ευχαριστώ (“thank you” in Greek) stands for both the Eucharistic sacrifice and gratitude for the grace and generosity of God.