Flight Patch

The “Flight” patch was created based on a work by Oleksandr Atsmanchuk from the collection of the Odesa Fine Arts Museum

(the artist’s original title for the painting is “The Kiss”).

Oleksandr Atsmanchuk is one of the key representatives of Odesa epic romanticism. During the period when he created this work, the artist actively experimented with form and color, striving for an open, intense palette, expressive areas of local color, and a synthesis of plastic form.

The image of a couple merging in a kiss has no clear boundaries—the figures join into a single mass of color resembling a burst of flame. This upward, almost weightless movement creates a feeling of flight, as though the figures were breaking free of earthly space and heading into the cosmos. The image echoes the romance of the beginning of the space age, with its faith in boundlessness and the possibility of moving beyond any limits.

This work was exceptionally important to the artist: he developed the subject and sketches for several years before finding the precise form for this union. At the same time, “Flight” became a controversial work: the painting was considered too explicit and radical for public space, sparked heated debate, and was not accepted by the official art establishment.

“Flight” is about intimacy that overcomes boundaries. About a movement in which the division between “I” and “you,” between earth and sky, disappears. About an energy that lifts you higher than what is permitted.