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Biography

Orysia Sinitowich-Gorski

Born

• Hafford, Saskatchewan
• Third generation Ukrainian Canadian

Education

• Hafford, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg
• Post-secondary education, nursing, and medical technology
• Studied art under the instruction of nationally and internationally-renowned artists Taras Koral and Nikola Bjelajac

Personal

• Married to Dr. Bronislaw Gorski (1935 - 2010). They have three children, Chrystia, Tamara, and Antos, and six grandchildren, Ruslana Orysia, Boyan Anton, Oriana Kateryna, Aiden Christopher, Isla True, Maya Jane and Ava
• Accomplished in a variety of artistic genres, including painting, drawing, and music (vocal and instrumental)

In the News

May 12, 2022

March - June 2015

June 11, 2010

PREMIER UNVEILS HOLODOMOR PORTRAIT AT LEGISLATIVE BUILDING

Manitoba Artist's Painting Commemorates Ukrainian Holocaust
Joined by local survivors of the Holodomor, Premier Greg Selinger unveiled today a permanent installation of a work of art depicting the plight of millions of Ukrainians.

"This moving portrait represents Holodomor, the Ukrainian Holocaust, a dark period in human history," said Selinger. "Created by Ukrainian-Canadian artist, Orysia Sinitowich-Gorski, Holodomor–Genocide #2 depicts past tragedy but also offers hope that such inhumanity will never be repeated."

Any acrylic on canvas work, the painting commemorates the Holodomor Years of 1932 to 33 in Ukraine when millions of people died of starvation through the actions of the Joseph Stalin regime. The painting was originally purchased by Manitoba for the provincial art collection in 2008 to commemorate the 75^th anniversary of the Ukrainian Holodomor-Holocaust.

"Ms. Sinitowich-Gorski has given us a stirring reminder of why we must always learn from the past," said Selinger. "Her choice of a young child as the central figure in the painting symbolizes the vulnerability of the human condition and the promise of a better future."

Sinitowich-Gorski is a third generation Ukrainian-Canadian who studied with Winnipeg artists and teachers including Nikola Bjeljac and the late Taras Korol. Winnipeg is home to a large Ukrainian community, some of who are Holodomor survivors who attended today's ceremony.

Art Exhibits

Solo:

April 1-2, 2006
St Katherine Orthodox Church Cultural Centre
Minneapolis/St Paul, Minnesota

October 1-3, 2004
The Oseredok Ukrainian Cultural and Education Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Group:

Convergence
Forum Art Annual Art Exhibition
Winnipeg, Manitoba
June, 1998
June, 1999
June, 2000
June, 2001
June, 2002
June, 2003
June, 2004
June, 2005
June, 2006
June, 2008
June, 2009
June, 2010
June, 2011

Winnipeg City Hall
Local Artists' Exhibit
Winnipeg, Manitoba
2001

Ukrainian Women's League
Ukrainian Women's Art Exhibit
Winnipeg, Manitoba
1979

• Her body of work includes portraits, still life, and themes of interest and concern to the artist (both serious and whimsical)
• Particularly striking are works that include Ukrainian and Ukrainian Canadian themes
• Media: oil, acrylic, ink, pastel, coloured pencil, watercolour

Television interviews

• November 2004: Shaw Television, Winnipeg. Feature interview with the artist about her artistic inspirations, such as the raw emotion of her love for Ukraine, for example in Democracy? (2003), Holodomor (2004), Lost Icon of Chornobyl (2004), and Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky (2004)
• August, 2006: Hutsul Festival, Pechenizhen. Ukraine
• 2009: Global News

Also...

• Leo's Windows (2002), portraying world-famous Ukrainian sculptor Leo Mol, set against the backdrop of the stained glass windows of his design in Winnipeg's Sts Volodymyr and Olga Cathedral, currently on display and part of the permanent collection of the Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Centre, Winnipeg, Canada