Renowned Lviv sculptor Yaroslav Motyka has passed away.

On Saturday, March 1, the renowned Lviv sculptor Yaroslav Motyka passed away at the age of 82. This was reported by the gallery owner and curator Pavlo Hudimov.

“For me, he was a symbol of unrestrained creative energy, an inspirer, and a person who brought generations together. As a curator, I admired Yaroslav's creativity and ideas, and I will always remember him and continue to work with his legacy,” he wrote.

“His works transformed the artistic face of Lviv, making it vibrant and emotional. Stone and bronze in his hands became history, emotions, and memory. Lviv has always been a city of inspiration for the artist. We will cherish and share his creativity with future generations”, – wrote the mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadovyi, on Facebook.

Yaroslav Motyka was born on January 10, 1943, in the village of Staromishchyna in the Ternopil region. He received his initial artistic education in Lviv with the support of artist Roman Turyn.

In 1966, he graduated from the Lviv Institute of Decorative and Applied Arts, specializing in monumental sculpture. He studied under Dmytro Kravavych and Danylo Dovboshynskyi.

Motyka's diploma project, a garden-park figure in the Striysky Park of Lviv titled “Lily” (artificial stone, 1966), remains one of the most famous works in the city.

Yaroslav Motyka was the author of numerous monumental sculptures, chamber plastics, and graphics. In the 1980s and 1990s, he worked at the Lviv Ceramic Sculpture Factory as a sculptor and ceramicist. Among his most notable works are the sculpture of the Protection of the Holy Mother in the town of Busk in Lviv region, the monument for the 1000th anniversary of the baptism of Ukraine-Rus in the town of Genk (Belgium), and monuments to Yevhen Konovalets in the town of Zhovkva in Lviv region, and to Markiyan Shashkevych in the village of Nestanychi in the Radekhiv district, among others.

Many of his memorial sculptures can also be found in the Lychakiv and Baikove cemeteries. A significant part of his work includes ceramic plastics in small forms, influenced by the masters of Havarichchyna.

Recently, he was working on a park sculpture titled “The Abduction of Europe.” Patients from the Unbroken Center assisted the sculptor in this project. The sculpture was intended to be installed in Striysky Park in Lviv.

Details regarding the time and place of the farewell to the artist will be announced later.