Lirnyk. 1966
ANTON SHTEPA: "Where are you wandering, my fate?" October this year we'll celebrate 100 years from Anton Shtepa's birth - an honorable master of folk art, original artist, ingenious self-taught rationalizer, musician, master of musical instruments. In the beginning of 1960s he, in addition to all his numerous skills and talents, started doing carving. In a due time he was totally involved in this activity - he created both in the afternoon and at night. The master has created more than two hundred sculptures, besides, thousands of spoons, pipes, combs, etc. The acknowledgement came at once. The best masterpieces decorated collections of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kanev and other cities museums. A. Shtepa's carved ornaments, figures are based on the folk traditions of his native Chernihiv area. These traditions are clearly seen in general images, shapes, in breaking proportions of human body and scale of different parts of a composition, in combination of a detailed processing with slightly seen touches. Naive and intuitive, generalized peculiarities of his works go alongside with the desire of realistic depicting. Ihor Poshyvailo, candidate of history, ethnologist, in his article wanted to show a reader the depth of character of this Ukrainian person of natural gifts, to tell about his dramatic life and work.