Mykhailo Skop is a Ukrainian artist and illustrator who is actively supporting Ukraine’s resistance efforts through digital art. He is professionally trained with a PhD in Fine Arts, Decorative Arts, and Restoration from the Lviv National Academy of Arts. With this training, Mykhailo skillfully uses universal archetypes and symbols in his pieces, so that his art can be understood in many countries around the world. Also, he refers to elements of sacred art, in order to demonstrate that freedom is the highest sacred value, without which life is simply impossible. Mykhailo describes his work as a weave of various meanings and references, with additional semantic content behind its literal meaning and call to action.
Mykhailo produces his art under the name #NEIVANMADE. It is a bilingual play on words indicating that these works were made not by Ivan, but by Mykhailo.
#NEIVANMADE. Egg. 2022. Digital xylography. This is one of Mykhailo’s earliest and most famous posters he created at the start of the full scale invasion.
Mykhailo was living in Kyiv in 2014, at the time of the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine. He and his peers were protesting for democracy and freedom, and defending Ukraine from the danger of becoming an authoritarian province of Russia. Just when they believed that the revolution was about to end, they learned that Russia was annexing Crimea and beginning the takeover of eastern regions of Ukraine. All of a sudden, hundreds of ordinary civilian protesters, with no equipment, filled trains and buses and headed east to stop the occupation. Mykhailo states that the world only learned about the Russia-Ukraine war eight years later when the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
#NEIVANMADE. Arcana Belli Tarot. 2023. Here are three cards depicting real events from the Revolution of Dignity. The Star: Youth bought alcohol and are pouring it out on the roadside while making Molotov cocktails. Knight of Swords: A protester, dressed in makeshift armor and a construction helmet, runs to defend the barricade of freedom. Temperance: A volunteer distributes food to all the hungry. This card also tells the story of thousands of volunteers who saved an incredible number of refugees from hunger at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion.
To Mykhailo, the Russian war in Ukraine is not something new. He remembers the words of his ancestors – those who survived dekulakization, the Holodomor, the horrors of World War II, and numerous Soviet repressions – who said that if invaders come to our land, they must leave our home, not us. Mykhailo and all his family, friends, and loved ones live in Ukraine because it means home to them. Therefore, he has intrinsic motivation to defend his country and support its resistance efforts against the Russian occupation.
#NEIVANMADE. Father’s Day in Ukraine. 2022. Digital xylography. The central image of this poster is a burnt photograph of a family. It references the painting "Family" (1927) by Ukrainian artist Fedir Krychevsky. This image embodies the dream of a quiet paradise longed for by Ukrainians, which was destroyed in 1933 through the Holodomor.
When your home is burning, you call firefighters and save your loved ones. When Mykhailo’s home – his home country of Ukraine – is burning, he is also doing everything and much more to save his home. Mykhailo knows how to speak through drawings. He can scream so loudly through his art that he is heard in Ohio, Provence, Cape Town, or near the statue of Christ in Rio de Janeiro.
Hearing about unspeakable violence being committed by Russian occupational forces in Ukrainian cities like Kherson and Kharkiv, Mykhailo does everything in his power every day to ensure his dear strangers can see the sunrise. He firmly believes in democracy, because for him, it is the air without which life is impossible.
#NEIVANMADE. Save Ukrainian Children! 2023. Digital xylography. In many regions of Ukraine, children sleep in the bath. This is a way to protect them, at least somewhat, from unexpected Russian missile attacks on residential areas.
One of Mykhailo’s biggest inspirations for his artwork is Oleksandr Roitburd, an artist from Odesa who is one of the icons of Ukrainian postmodernism. Roitburd had a profound understanding of Ukrainian culture and his Jewish identity, creating works that were both complex and insightful. He was a devoted supporter of young art and promoted Ukrainian cultural heritage. Roitburd was the director of the Odesa National Art Museum, which unfortunately was bombed in 2023. To commemorate Roitburd and the impact he had on Mykhailo and other young artists, Mykhailo featured Roitburd in one of his digital art pieces in 2023.
#NEIVANMADE. Odessa National Fine Arts Museum. 2023. Digital xylography.
When we asked Mykhailo to select his favorite piece of his artwork, it was emotionally difficult for him to choose one. He creates art because he and his country are hurting, so he asks himself: What is your favorite fracture? Which of your bleedings seemed the most appealing to you? Which of your intense pains do you consider worthy of applause? However, Mykhailo is also motivated to create art by his faith. Each one of his works represents an unwavering belief in democracy and freedom for everyone, against all odds. Instead of thinking in terms of individual works, Mykhailo considers his art as cycles of projects. Each of them is a way to speak to the world through various cultural contexts. Currently, his most significant project is Arcana Belli Tarot. Using the universal symbolic language of Tarot, this project depicts the realities of the Russia-Ukraine war. Mykhailo shows the heroism of those who defend the peaceful sleep of Ukrainian civilizans, volunteers who do the impossible daily, children who will inherit a peaceful country tomorrow, those who have suffered, and those who have overcome death itself.
#NEIVANMADE. Arcana Belli Tarot. 2023.
Mykhailo has strong faith in tomorrow, as he feels inspired by the resilience of Ukrainians. He brings up several examples of wartime challenges that he has directly faced:
Imagine that glasses have disappeared from the store because the factory that produced them was bombed. Imagine that soy sauce is no longer produced because huge fields were mined. Imagine that all dairy products spoiled because the energy across the city was cut off due to the destruction of the country’s largest thermal power plant.
#NEIVANMADE. Soledar. 2023. Digital xylography. Context: Russian occupational forces destroyed the entire Ukrainian city of Soledar, where salt was mined. This left Ukraine in a salt shortage in their grocery stores.
But again and again, Ukrainians inevitably rebuild the factory, clear the minefields, and find alternative ways to supply electricity. So when Mykhailo returns to the store in a few days, the shelves are restocked once again. A bombed café reopens in a few weeks with fresh renovations and the aroma of the best coffee. On the street that was in ruins yesterday, a vegan food stall and a children's playground arise. Just a couple of days after the liberation of Bucha, where numerous Ukrainian civilians were massacred by the Russian Armed Forces, most local residents began returning to their homes. Many of them brought saplings of fruit trees to plant in place of the burned ones – to create a beautiful garden once again.
#NEIVANMADE. For the Future. 2023. Digital xylography.
Constantly bearing witness to the resilience of his fellow Ukrainians, Mykhailo has faith that tomorrow is coming today. This faith drives him on a daily basis, and brings him joy in these difficult times.
#NEIVANMADE. Tomorrow will Come. 2023. Digital xylography. Mykhailo sketched this work as a poster for the anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2024. The original painting was made in the summer of 2023. At that time, he was staying in a building in the same village where the grain port is located. During those days, Russia attacked the port to destroy Ukraine's grain industry. A nearby building was destroyed by fire. His windows were blown out. So, Mykhailo painted his faith in tomorrow in the midst of today's darkness.
From aiding people impacted by the Russia-Ukraine war, Mykhailo has learned that true democracy is horizontal. It is your neighbor, it is your stranger, it is your loved one with whom you raised money together for medical kits. It is your boss who gives you leave because you are caring for the wounded. It is your wife who raised money for protective gear for her ex. Mykhailo describes this sense of community in Ukraine as Noah’s Ark, where everyone does the impossible for their friend, brother, acquaintance, and stranger. “Love one another as I have loved you” – this is a commandment Ukrainians do not need to be taught because they simply live by it.
#NEIVANMADE. Together. 2024. Digital xylography.
Mykhailo recalls the critical moment of the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, where Ukrainian protests shouted “the sky is falling!” and “hold the sky!”, calling everyone to defend the barricades. 10 years later, Mykhailo would like to think the brave Ukrainian soldiers who are holding the sky right now. Without them, his art and his life would be impossible.
#NEIVANMADE. Hold the Sky. 2022. Digital xylography.