"True Heart" was inspired by cherished memories of the artist’s youth and her grandmother Nina who was born before the revolution. Nina survived being taken from a life of privilege as a child to a humble life of hardships. She survived one revolution, two world wars, and the Great Famine (Holodomor); most of her life in the most atrocious conditions, surrounded by poverty, starvation, and disease. Her soul had ample opportunity to be tainted by the hardship of life, but throughout her life she never gave-up hope; she was a hard worker and a fighter and was always kind, helpful, and compassionate to others. Nina never wasted anything and shared the bounties of the land with everyone. She was a true heart and never changed the person she was, her soul remaining untainted by the decades of hardship. Nina passed many years ago, but her kind smile remains a cherished memory of the artist to this day. 
Medium: sculpting, painting, costuming
Materials: “Living doll” oven-baked polymer clay, acrylic and oil paint, pastel, modern and antique fabrics and lace, leather, wire, wool, felt, yarn, Tibetan llama hair.
Dimensions of final piece:9h*5.5w inch/22.86h*13.97w cm. Year of creation: 2019