The nature of the sculpture is mysterious and ambiguous. Even a small statuette preserves both the image of a pagan idol and the memory of God's hand touch, which creates the first man from a lump of clay. Its spirituality is able to be embodied in heavy earthly material. This duality is best combined with what can be called the Ukrainian mentality. The consciousness of the nation, which declared Christianity as its religion more than a thousand years ago, but still preserves pagan rituals and archaic traditions in the memory of generations, expresses itself most clearly in the language of sculpture. Perhaps this is what determined the place occupied by the Ukrainian sculptor Arkhipenko in the world art of the century. The modern sculpture of Ukraine is also nourished by the same roots. The works of Vasyl Byk perfectly illustrate this tendency. They are the flesh from the flesh of this complex alloy of primitive, pagan and Christian cultures, in which matter is spiritualized, and the spirit is clothed in a defiantly material form. Thus, in the “Trinity” the plastic expression of the Christian symbol of faith finds its embodiment in the ancient archetypal form of the pyramid, the incorporeal becomes thorough, and the elusive becomes monumental. “Easter Christ” is an equally stable, tangible image; on the other hand, it literally has a “second meaning” – this sculpture, if desired, can turn into a bell, which originally calls people to repent of the Lord. Such ambivalence is characteristic not only of the sculptor's religious works. Here is an example from a completely different sphere – the marble “Female Torso”. When viewed from the front, it embodies a truly pagan feast of the flesh, which brings to mind baroque images. But start walking around the sculpture – and now it is already gracefully thinning, taking on a kind of mysterious, out-of-place look. A few more steps – and again a wild game of earthly beauty. And these transformations can be endless. “The Keeper of home and wealth” is an interpretation of the ancient Trypilian image, which still gives off the spirit of the patriarchal system. And here in the statuette “Elegance” another Trypilian canon of the image evokes completely different associations – here, in addition to the original Venuses, the works of Archipenko are mentioned, an exquisite mannequin is seen in some Paris fashion atelier at the beginning of the century. In “Woman on the Beach” a model in the style of Rubens, and Soviet beauties of the early 1920s, and today's Ukrainian bazaar trader come to life. And such a kaleidoscope of images evokes the imagination of almost every work of the sculptor. It is obvious that behind this lies not only the rich imagination of the author, but also the centuries-old traditions on which his art is based. These various sources, which continue to exist in parallel in the modern culture of Ukraine and feed it with their juices, create this peculiar, whimsical and living fusion of images and forms.

Kateryna Stukalova, Art critic

The state of being in love has a power that conquers, charms against all arguments and taste preferences. Similar to the unknown nature of electricity, this impulse creates a strong field around itself. Vasyl Byk's creations carry the energy of the master's love. Vasyl frankly admits: “Many artists are now not interested in nature, its plasticity, but I just enjoy it.” It is hard not to believe the author, looking at his “Torses”, “Eva”, “Flora”. His bronze “Proud Roman Woman” carries her hips like a cup filled to the brim, “Pharaoh's Mistress” is like a cup of fertility, the magnificent “Woman on the Beach” is a confused original Venus. “A woman is nature,” notes Vasyl Byk. And he studies this nature with trepidation, aloofness, passion, embodying it in the image of a proud girl (Prima), a virgin in love (“Kateryna”), a royally sensual woman (“Blonde Braid”). But not only living nature dominates the love of the artist. We catch the scent of his admiration for the plastic sculptures of H. Moore, I. Meshtrovych, H. Arp, K. Tange, and A. Arkhipenko. Slippery trail, eye adjustment. Vasyl Byk returns the honed plastic code of different masters to nature, immerses it in its natural pulsation, fastidiousness, individuality. The artist appreciates matter by itself, without its drifting into other, supra-material states, into the incorporeal. Bronze and stone give Vasyl the opportunity to create a new body that repeats and changes visible forms. The texture of the material, its color, tectonics, and structure can be perceived in the works of Vasyl Byk as self-sufficient phenomena. However, at the same time, the sculpture is powerfully driven by the internal need for mimesis, the creation of sensually real images. Even in spiritual themes, the artist offers us a materially significant embodiment of the “Trinity”, “Christ”, “Holy Family”. In the composition “Virgin Mary with her son”, the young Christ stands in front of the shining sun with Mary's bosom. “Easter Christ” turns into a bell, its heavy hollow body can be filled with a powerful sound. The Trinity forms a three-sided mountain-church, on which rests the earthly sphere, crowned with a cross. The Trinity as architecture, superstructure, beginning, support, ultimate content. The three hypostases of the one God are embodied in a bronze tint of the color of the earth. Vitalism, magnetism of matter appears in everything that the sculptor's hand touches. Vasyl Byk was born in a Ukrainian village, in the bosom of lush nature, in the world of a mystical fairy tale. Then there was a long way of studying in Kyiv, in an art studio, at the Ukrainian Academy of Arts. Familiarization with different ways of creative understanding of the world, plastic systems, artistic currents. Movement directly in the form of a choice, through the other – to oneself. In the soul of the artist, the myth about the Little Mermaid, who lives everywhere – in the water, in the field, in the forest, can catch up and capture her anywhere. Giving his strength to stone and metal, Vasyl Byk again and again falls into the love nets of Nature.

Olga Lagutenko, Art critic

Spiritual and Natural beauty in the Arts of Sculptor Vasyl Byk

Vasyl Byk’s creativity could be correctly called a creativity of a philosopher. He tries to understand himself through his works as though he is creating himself! In his works the philosophy of the artist’s life and his soul are being revealed. Alike Grygoriy Skovoroda he tries to find the sense and purpose of life of a Human in the universe. According to the artist they imply being the source of light and warmth, consciousness and diligence of this world.

A Human takes an exceptional place among the sculptor’s works. He praises human’s spiritual origin as the image of God, puts it above material and physical elements and desires. His works depict the many layers of Human’s life; they trace the artist’s understanding of the balance between spiritual and physical aspects very accurately. At the same time an appreciable preference is granted to the spiritual.

Vasyl Byk is an artist from God and a Human with the rich inner content. The spirituality comes from outside his works and is breathed out and embodied in various images. All he does goes from outside his soul. That is why his works contain a piece of his soul! For instance, “The Keeper of a Wonder Flower” (sandstone, wood, 2008) is dedicated to an outstanding Ukrainian poetess Lina Kostenko. It is not accidental that the image of this adorable woman, which the artist was begetting for years, can be compared with the lily flower, as “the white lotus bloom is not ashamed of the dirt it grows from”. Alike the poetess he tries to extract purity, immaculacy, and peace and raise that unrealistic layer, which the woman has to raise during her life. In the physical images Vasyl Byk immortalizes the most positive human manifestations, which are the maternity “Woman’s Torso-Conception”, 2000), girl’s gracefulness (“Prima”, 1995) and youth (“A Girl with Butterfly”, 2001), the power of love (“Catherine”, 1997), woman’s maturity (“A Woman with Cherries”, 2001; “She, Who is Gathering Flax”, 2008), male’s fortitude (“A Boy with Chamomile”, 1994), etc. However, the outer shells of these images are only a form and event, whereas the actual sense and essence are much deeper. In them the artist tries to share the inner world of a human and the picture of human’s own “me”, as only the heart  and the inner substance serves the source of the human’s spiritual life and essence! Vasyl Byk’s works contain simple and clear laws of harmony and beauty. They also embrace a lot of symbols, as the arts and sculptures, in particular, are impossible without symbolism. The artist’s favourite symbol is a triangle, which is a symbol of life! It has pursued the artist: he was born on the Trinity day and his works carry the triune essence, which is plasticity, symbolism, and spirit, which it generates. In particular, the artist’s very successful work “Trinity” is full of symbols: the cross that symbolizes the eternity, the sphere that is both the symbol and the model of the universe, which Father God, Son of God, and Holy Spirit hold and interweave into the whole. Other works can also be mentioned as an example: “Paschal Jesus” (bronze, 1994), “Holy Family” (bronze, 1993), “Crowned by the Almighty” (marble, 1999).

The God’s Mother takes a separate and special place in Vasyl Byk’s work. The sculptor has turned to this image many times, for instance “The Virgin Mary with Son” (bronze, stone, 1992), “The Virgin Mary with Son” (wood, 2006) and “The Virgin” (wood, 2009). In the Virgin’s streamline outline the artist depicts the main idea of the Christian world, which is self-sacrifice. It can be easily recognized both in the images of Merciful Virgin Mary and Christ the Child.

As we can see, sculptures of Vasyl Byk are the desires of his heart, which reveal the power of the beauty of eternity, the idea of the spirituality, and the way to the revival in plastic arts. Using his inspiring creativity as an example he carries the payer to the Human into the world. He tries to embrace the beauty of the outer and the inner worlds with his consciousness and heart and embody them in plastic images.

Olga Denisyuk, Candidate of Arts, Associate Professor, Chair of Study of Art and Expertise, the State Academy of Management of Culture and Arts (Kyiv)