Unkissed Regiments : : Long Time No See : : October-November 2018 : : Chicago Art Department

Unkissed Regiments by Galina Shevchenko features Embroidery 2018 & Video 2010-2017 Dedicated to WWII Soviet Women fighter Pilots. Audio: Improvised cello Performance by Ian Maksin 2017. This installation was shown at the Chicago Art Department's "Long Time No See Exhibition", curated by Carris Adams. I started this body of work back in 2010, when I made my first drawings and animations dedicated to the three all female World War II Soviet fighter pilots regiments. The Soviet women fighter pilots operated specific bomber airplanes that men would refuse to fly as they were too bulky & outdated... The night bombers, Polikarpov Po-2 airplanes, were soundless and extremely precise, but they were easy targets if discovered by the German projectors. Fascists nicknamed the night bomber regiments "Night Witches" and were terrified by them. The The 125th Guards Dive Bomber Regiment used PE2 dive bombers . The fighter regiment 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment operated the Yak1 airplanes . Fragility and strength, valor and bravery, super human effort, and fearlessness characterized these 18-22 year old girls of the so-called "unkissed regiments"... I based my drawings on the archival photos of the pilots, animated and embroidered them.