Lines of Resistance: Preparations & Process

This small exhibition offers a look into the making of Lines of Resistance—a 60-metre-long painting that tells the story of Gloucester’s extraordinary response to the war in Ukraine. What you see here are some of the early studies from a part of the painting illustrating the work done by people from The Ukranian Community in Gloucester.. These pieces capture the process, the people, and the powerful human connections behind the larger story.

Since the start of the war in 2022, I’ve travelled to Ukraine multiple times, witnessing first-hand the courage and suffering of those living through the invasion. I’ve also watched my own city—Gloucester—step up in remarkable ways. From the Ukrainian and Polish communities at the heart of the aid effort, to everyday residents who collected, drove, donated, organised, or simply asked how can I help?—this is their story too.

These works are where the project began. In these sketches and paintings, you’ll find the faces of people I’ve met, the words they’ve shared, and the emotional shorthand I use to try and process what I’ve seen. Many are made quickly and instinctively, using the colours of the Ukrainian flag—blue and yellow—as the visual pulse of the work. I work fast, expressively, trying to get things down before they fade. These aren’t finished pieces—they’re fragments of feeling, painted in real time, close to the truth. An aid to what the final piece will look like.

This exhibition is also a fundraiser to help us take Lines of Resistance to Ukraine. Our goal is to exhibit the painting in Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Odesa, as a message of solidarity from Gloucester to the people of Ukraine. After that, it will return to be shown hopefully in Gloucester Cathedral, as a permanent tribute to the city’s role in this international story of resistance and care.

By supporting this exhibition—through donations, sponsorships, or purchasing work—you’re helping us carry that message across borders. You’re helping us say: we stood with you, and we still do.