Baba and Bob

Shevchenko Icon

"This is me and my mother holding an icon of Taras Shevchenko - the national Ukrainian poet. My parents were both immigrants, who came to Canada in the Fifties - in that wave of Post WW II displaced Eastern Europeans. They were both Ukrainians by birth who found themselves in Canada almost by accident. Shevchenko is a national hero and most Ukrainians keep pictures of him in their homes. My mother is too practical to care much about poetry. But she always missed her home - and this was made worse by the Cold War politics that made travel back home for her a virtual impossibility. So this icon reminds us all of where our family's roots are. They actually brought this embroidered Shevchenko back from Ukraine with them when they did return in the late Sixties. When we took this photo she went out of her way to point out how much she likes it. She also was cursing the French government, as they are withholding my father's wartime pension, despite the fact he served in the army.

We also have a stuffed squirrel in the living room that seems to be there for the sole function of making people uncomfortable."
-As told to The MOMMA by Bob Mackowycz, Toronto

Meltyface

Meltyface, Acrylic, Frances Mackowycz, 1986

"My mom is full of surprises. She's always got something cooking in that mind of hers. She got pregnant in high school, and had to drop out. She sacrificed a lot of her own interests and ambitions to stay home with me and my sister. And she never complained about it. Ever.

One day my mom announced she was going to start painting again. I didn't have any idea that she could paint. She was so busy with us kids, she didn't really have any hobbies - and of course, we were so self-absorbed, we wouldn't have noticed anyway. So I said, "Okay, Mom - do your thing." Then, a few weeks later I came home from school and this self-portrait was hanging in our foyer. I thought, "Oh boy...it's gonna be a long year." I call this painting "Meltyface." For a long time, it intimidated me. I'd walk by it in the hall and shudder. It's hard to look at an expression of your mom's innermost thoughts. Especially when they are melting her face. But now, looking back, I'm glad she painted it, because it was something she needed to do.

Now, 22 years later, my mom has gone back to school. She just won a prestigious scholarship in Religious Studies at the University of Toronto. She had the highest grades of any third year student. I completely believe that self-portrait represents a big step in her life.
She maintains this painting is funny. Which is totally her sense of humour."
- As told to The MOMMA by Bob Mackowycz Jr., Toronto