This poster is based on the well-known video of a Ukranian woman who taunted invading Russian soldiers, telling them to put sunflower seeds (already a symbol of Ukraine) in their pockets so the flower would grow when they were killed and buried.
Knowing that some of the real reasons for the Russian invasion was Putin's vision for a new Soviet empire rebuilt on fascism (believed to be highly influenced by philosopher Aleksandr Dugin), I used the hammer and sickle (that is, a reaper) as symbols of this ambition. On the surface they are the symbols of the industrial and agricultural workers but they are, in reality, weapons of death and brutality, and the totalitarianism thereof. They are also symbols of some of the outdated tactics and weaponry used by the Russian invaders. The hammer's head even includes the phrase "Glory to the Soviet Army!" in Russian as mocking and ironic commentary. (This is much more visible in the full-sized version.) Here, they are lying, fallen, on the ground with bloody handprints and stains. The dark and gloomy atmosphere, the fog of war, portends a final judgement for the atrocities committed.
These sunflowers stand in ranks like the troops they replace, and each stalk bears the words "Glory to Ukraine!", which also mocks the dead invaders. (This is also better seen in the full version.)
When the two are put together, the Russian invaders are sowers of fear and reapers of death. However, they are sowing their own destruction. When they are defeated in death, they are buried. When they are buried, the sunflowers grow. Thus, they reap what they sow—their own doom. And so life begins again. The sunflower then becomes a symbol of both victory over invaders and also of hope, faith, and resiliency.
Authenticity and attention to detail were high priorities. Rather than blindly applying a Western style or cliched symbols to a thought, I attempted to evoke Eastern European poster styles. These styles often employ surrealism and collage with both photographs and organic hand-made elements, resulting in absurd but believable visual worlds. I intentionally blurred the lines between styles of different countries as well as eras of time to avoid being too specific. I have included the text in English but also translated it into Russian and Ukranian (via translator apps); the typography also forms pictures of the Russian and Ukranian flags. The two photographs used (the background picture of Kharkiv, and the reference photo of the sunflower from a field near the village of Tarasivka) were both sourced from the Unsplash website and were taken by Ukranian photographers. The typeface used, Obrazec, was a font I had used previously and was chosen for its bold, compact, straight-edged letters and Cyrillic character set; the font is also available for free and was designed by a Russian-trained designer based in Japan. The hammer and sickle and army slogan were taken from original Soviet-period sources in my personal collection.
