Our Lady of Patria, 2026

Tania Potapenko  

This work presents a young pregnant woman, dressed in a plain white dress beneath a military jacket, seated on a simple wooden chair. Beneath her lies another military coat, marked by traces of dried blood.

The composition draws on the visual language of religious icons, transforming the figure into a contemporary Madonna. Yet instead of divine serenity, her gaze conveys uncertainty, endurance, and quiet grief. Behind her, the faded remnants of a national coat of arms emerge and dissolve into the dark background, evoking the persistence of patriotic narratives and their imprint on individual lives.

Rather than celebrating patriotism, Our Lady of Patria is an indictment of its exploitation. The painting reflects the artist's grief over the war waged by her country of birth and examines how motherhood, sacrifice, and national duty can be instrumentalized by the state. Here, the pregnant woman a political battleground, a symbol of how women are called upon to give birth to new military resources in service of expansion ambitions and fears that are not their own.

PLEASE KINDLY NOTE:
- the colors in life may slightly vary from the photo due to lighting sources or monitor settings.
- the parcel will be sent from Finland. Should the delivery address be outside the EU, the recipient may need to declare the painting and pay some local VAT and customs duties.