Mika & Carmella Haykowsky: Portrait Over Portrait Following the Matrilineal Line

FEB 27, 2025 to APR 12, 2025

Alberta Council for the Ukrainian Arts presents

Mika & Carmella Haykowsky
Portrait Over Portrait Mother/Daughter Art Exhibit

An ACUA Signature Artist Series Event

February 27 – April 12, 2025

Opening Reception
Thursday February 27, 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. with presentation at 7:00 p.m.

Mika and Carmella Haykowsky have been collaborating as artists since 2015. Their projects revolve around memory, portraiture, and feminine subjectivity. In 2012, Mika Haykowsky’s inaugural art exhibit was alongside her mother in a duo exhibition. In 2022 they celebrated their 10 year artist anniversary and exhibited another duo show. Portrait Over Portrait: Following the Matrilineal Line will be their first exhibition of collaborative work.

“Portrait Over Portrait: Following the Matrilineal Line is an ancestral exploration following Ukrainian heritage in our matrilineal line. We are exploring loved ones from memory, imagining the faces and activities of passed relatives, as well as referencing old photos. Through this work we are making meaning from our family history. In oil, watercolor, pastel, crayon, graphite, and collage, we are experimenting with our mother-daughter-artist relationship. We respond to each other’s work, give each other prompts, and even co-create on the same canvas. We are also exploring self-portraiture and examining characteristics that have been passed down, noticing similarities and idiosyncrasies particular to the Haykowsky line. Through portraiture we are documenting stories of the women who came before us. These paintings are a way of bringing them to life and celebrating them.”

-Artists Carmella and Mika

This exhibition is dedicated to Carmella and Mika’s recently deceased mother and grandmother, Dolores Haykowsky (January 21, 1936 – May 7, 2023).