Ukrainian artist Oleksij Dynnyk observed, “For me, painting is primarily art therapy, it motivates to create regardless of whether there is an audience or not, it is also a source of energy recovery, if the process does not bring suffering. So, at the question why I am doing this my answer is very simple: Because it filled all the empty (free) clusters of my consciousness.”

Dynnyk wrote these words to introduce three of his remarkable wartime works in the first number of Enzo Comin’s zine The Journey, which appeared in September. Dynnyk was one of a half dozen Ukrainian artists—the others included Sergei Dobrynov, Zhalobniuk, Mikhail Ray, Maria Drozdova, Alla Volobyeva, Oetri Hrytsiuk—who responded to Comin’s open call for submissions to a new, self-published zine, The Journey.

Established Italian graphic artist and writer Comin created The Journey to fill a gap that existing art magazines do not address by inviting artists to submit works that revolve around what happens in the lives of artists as they create. Dobrynov was among the first to respond, followed by other Ukrainian artists. Comin decided to dedicate the first issue to the remarkable artists working in wartime Ukraine. The result is a haunting, affecting, compelling online collection of 18 works.

Fanzines are nonprofessional and nonofficial publications created by enthusiasts—fans—of a particular cultural phenomenon or moment. The term arose with the first science fiction fanzines dating from the 1940s. Fan-based, self-published magazines took off among sci-fi, sports, and film aficionados, becoming particularly popular with the appearance of the Star Trek fan publication Spockanalia.

Creators no longer peck away at typewriters to produce mimeographed content that is dropped into mailboxes at their own expense. Twenty-first century technologies and social media platforms have turned them into a popular way for devotees to reach audiences measuring in the tens of thousands worldwide.

Comin established The Journey as a virtual vessel for artists to share their ongoing experiences. He initially expected his fellow artists to write about unsuccessful pieces, unexpected changes, and compelling incidents connected to their work. Dobrynov’s response immediately elevated the project beyond this intended focus. Comin found Dobrynov’s work, as well as that of his compatriots, to demonstrate how Ukrainians want “to convey joy, warmth and kindness of native places” that can no longer be reached because of the war.

The artists’ accompanying narratives speak to the poignancy of displacement, the horrors of war, the need to paint by candlelight, and the return to analog techniques as blackouts prevent reliance on electronic technologies. They tell of the traumatizing experiences of living through war.

Maria Drozdova, for example, wrote about living in Kharkiv in February 2022. “The Russian army was constantly shelling the city; there were days when the city was shelled by Russian aircraft and when there was a breach of the city’s defense and there were street battles. Then there was a counteroffensive and Kharkiv survived, although shelling from Russia happens now, as well as throughout Ukraine,” she wrote.

Alla Volobyaeva’s personal horror ran deep, as is reflected in her art. “When the full-scale war began in Ukraine, I was pregnant and had to give birth. I was hiding in the basement of my house, because the Russian bastards were already approaching our house. It’s a long story, I’m living in it now,” she wrote. Hers is a story which she turned into art.

Such stories and art works spoke powerfully to Comin. As he explains, 

I am influenced by the geographical and social environment of my home region in the northeast of Italy, next to Slovenia. It is the border with the Balkan region and, when I was younger, with Yugoslavia. Currently, I live in a city that was divided into two sectors at the end of the Second World War, Gorizia, with the eastern side that is Nova Gorica (New Gorizia), Slovenia. Besides that, my region has always been in the center of Europe, in the middle of the entire Mediterranean area, in other words it has involved and brought together all the cultures and peoples that have struggled, evolved and passed from all directions. All my thinking and feeling as an artist, writer and creator of art projects are connected to this fluent and multi-level heritage.

Comin’s plans for the future include presentations in Italy and advancing a new novel in Italian—Armonia delle resistenze (Harmony of Resistance)—which came out in September. He will shortly open the call for applications to appear in The Journey’s second issue. As with last time around, there will be no geographic limits on submissions. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian artists who seized on the opportunity Comin offered the first time will be recording their experiences through art worthy of international attention.

The opinions expressed in this article are those solely of the author and do not reflect the views of the Kennan Institute.