In 2019, Ronnie Feinstein, a noted art history scholar, was asked by the Orange County Jewish Federation to organize an exhibition of artwork by Holocaust survivors.
She met with several survivors before making her way to the Stanton home of Mila Gokhman, 88, discovering the accomplished Ukrainian American artist whose work has been exhibited in museums and venues across Eastern Europe.
Ukrainian-American artist Mila Gokhman, 88, with some of her work on display at the Merage JCC in Irvine during a silent auction to benefit Ukrainian humanitarian crisis relief. on Sunday, April 24, 2022. Gokhman’s “Light and Shadow” collages are on display at the Merage JCC in Irvine through May 22. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Ukrainian-American artist Mila Gokhman, 88, hugs, Miles Valentine, 13, who was partnered with Gokhman through the Holocaust Survivor Program. He was at her art show and auction to benefit Ukrainian humanitarian crisis relief in Irvine on Sunday, April 24, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Ukrainian-American artist Mila Gokhman, 88, mingles with guests during an art auction and show to benefit Ukrainians, in Irvine on Sunday, April 24, 2022. After Russia’s invasion of Ukrainian Gokhman created three new pieces in Ukrainian folk-art style, differing from her usual abstract art. “Light and Shadow” collages are on display at the Merage JCC in Irvine through May 22. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Ukrainian-American artist Mila Gokhman’s art show and auction to benefit Ukrainian humanitarian crisis relief, includes some of her handmade jewelry in Irvine on Sunday, April 24, 2022. Gokhman’s “Light and Shadow” collages are on display at the Merage JCC in Irvine through May 22. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Ukrainian-American artist Mila Gokhman, 88, signs copies of a a book containing her work, during a silent auction to benefit Ukrainian humanitarian crisis relief. Gokhman’s “Light and Shadow” collages are on display at the Merage JCC in Irvine through May 22. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Ukrainian-American artist Mila Gokhman’s “Light and Shadow” collages are on display at the Merage JCC in Irvine through May 22. She recently held an auction there to benefit Ukrainian humanitarian crisis relief. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Ukrainian-American artist Mila Gokhman, 88, talks about her art and heartache for friends living in Ukraine after Russia’s invasion, on Sunday, April 24, 2022. Gokhman’s “Light and Shadow” collages are on display at the Merage JCC in Irvine through May 22. An auction of her work will benefit Ukrainian humanitarian crisis relief. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Regina Golovina with OurStrings4You, plays the cello during Ukrainian-American artist Mila Gokhman’s art show and auction to benefit Ukrainian humanitarian crisis relief in Irvine on Sunday, April 24, 2022. Gokhman’s “Light and Shadow” collages are on display at the Merage JCC in Irvine through May 22. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Ukrainian-American artist Mila Gokhman, 88, talks about her work with Julie Heiman, in Irvine on Sunday, April 24, 2022. Heiman bought a piece as a gift to her parents during a silent auction to benefit Ukrainian humanitarian crisis relief. Gokhman’s “Light and Shadow” collages are on display at the Merage JCC in Irvine through May 22. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Ukrainian-American artist Mila Gokhman, 88, talks about her art and heartache for friends living in Ukraine after Russia’s invasion, on Sunday, April 24, 2022. Gokhman’s “Light and Shadow” collages are on display at the Merage JCC in Irvine through May 22. An auction of her work will benefit Ukrainian humanitarian crisis relief. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Ukrainian-American artist Mila Gokhman, 88, mingles with guests during an art auction and show to benefit Ukrainians, in Irvine on Sunday, April 24, 2022. After Russia’s invasion of Ukrainian Gokhman created three new pieces in Ukrainian folk-art style, differing from her usual abstract art. “Light and Shadow” collages are on display at the Merage JCC in Irvine through May 22. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Since moving to the United States in 2000, however, Gokhman’s art has garnered minimal exposure, only being seen in two small two-person shows.
Until Sunday, when the opening of the exhibition “Mila Gokhman: Light & Shadow” was held at the Jewish Community Center in Irvine.
But along with introducing Gokhman to more people locally, sales proceeds from the exhibit are raising money to benefit Ukrainian humanitarian relief efforts.
Gokhman was 7 years old when her family was forced to flee her native Kyiv in June 1941, as the Nazis marched into the region. Three months later, almost 34,000 Jews had been massacred in Kyiv’s Babi Yar ravine.
Gokhman’s family escaped east to Ural.
For three pastorals sold Sunday through a silent auction, Gokhman deviated from her typical abstract and improvisational style to return to her Ukrainian roots, painting in its folk-art style to pay homage to her homeland.
Watching the war in Ukraine this past month, Gokhman said she was consistently driven to tears.
“The one thing that helped me to survive was my work. During the month, I almost didn’t sleep,” she said. “I was doing the three pastorals there on the wall, meaning hope and peace to my land and peace to my soul. It was very important for me to produce it properly.”
The exhibit was named for a series of 15 collages, “Light & Shadow,” created by Gokhman to represent the passing of the coronavirus pandemic. Several of the collages are featured in the exhibit.
Also in the exhibit are pieces of jewelry created by Gokhman and several panels crafted with narrow strips of leather which were layered, woven and twisted.
“When I entered the apartment of Mila Gokhman in Stanton, it changed my life,” Feinstein said. “What I encountered in that apartment was a half-century worth of the most amazing art design by a woman who had a considerable reputation in Eastern Europe.”
Despite being a relative unknown locally, Gokhman had continued to create art in her small apartment every day, Feinstein said.
“Not only that, the work she produced was so vital and alive and full of spirit and movement … it was such a testament to the human spirit,” said Feinstein, who worked with her husband to build a website for Gokhman, which displays hundreds of pieces of her work, along with her bio.
Feinstein said she was about to start contacting museums, galleries and art journals to raise awareness of Gokhman here when the coronavirus hit, shutting down the world.
“This exhibition, Mila’s work here at the JCC had been planned, time and time and time again, and postponed time and time again,” Feinstein said.
Now the exhibition is not only celebrating the artist, but helping Ukrainians again fleeing war.
Her exhibit will remain on display through May 23.
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