Interview for Ukrainian magazine The Woman
I’m honoured to be featured in the Ukrainian magazine The Woman, where I share my journey as an artist and as a Ukrainian woman living and creating in Australia. The article reflects on my creative path, the experiences that shaped my practice, and the way art has helped me stay connected to both place and identity while building a life on the other side of the world.
Living between two countries has taught me that connection to homeland doesn’t disappear with distance — it transforms. Through my work, I carry memories, values, and cultural references from Ukraine into my life in Australia, creating a quiet dialogue between the two. Art becomes a bridge, linking landscapes, histories, and emotional ties across continents, and allowing me to feel grounded in both places at once.
It is always meaningful to see this story resonate beyond my immediate community, especially when it reaches readers who may recognise their own experiences of migration, belonging, and cultural memory. I’m grateful to the editorial team for their interest and thoughtful approach to telling my story.
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“Jewellery ”
My journey with jewellery began in 2008, after a workshop in Kyiv sparked my curiosity about working on a small, intimate scale. What started as experimentation soon grew into a deeper fascination with adornment as both object and cultural expression. My interest truly ignited while curating a fashion show of traditional Ukrainian clothing. Immersing myself in the richness of these garments led me to closely study traditional Ukrainian multi-row jewellery — its structure, symbolism, rhythm, and presence. These pieces are more than decoration; they carry history, identity, and a strong visual language. Since then, I have created hundreds of jewellery pieces, each one informed by that tradition while shaped through my own contemporary sensibility. Working at this scale allows for precision, repetition, and variation — a dialogue between heritage and personal expression. Jewellery, for me, is another way of telling stories through form and material — wearable, tactile, and closely connected to the body.
“Portraits — Creating Memories That Endure”
From time to time, someone commissions a portrait not simply as an artwork, but as a way to preserve a presence — a face, a character, a moment in life meant to last beyond the present. Portraits hold a unique place in art because they are created with the future in mind, becoming part of a family’s visual history. When I work on a portrait, my focus goes beyond likeness. I look for what makes a person recognisable to those who love them — a certain expression, a posture, a quiet strength or warmth that speaks of who they are. These details are often subtle, but they are what transform a portrait into something deeply personal. Commissioned portraits are often created to mark important moments: a milestone, a legacy, or a tribute. Over time, they become witnesses to family stories, passed from one generation to the next, carrying memory, identity, and connection. For me, creating a portrait is a shared process built on trust and attentiveness. It is about honouring the individual and creating a work that will continue to speak long after the sitting has ended — a lasting memory, held in paint.
“Heartlands — A Multimedia Performance”
Being part of the Heartlands multimedia performance at Cell Block Theatre, Sydney, was a true privilege and an honour. It was a project driven by an incredibly motivated and generous team — a real dream team — and the result was powerful. A person, who came up with the idea of this unique event never held in Sydney before, creative director and producer of Heartlands – Linda Gough. For this performance, I created the artwork of a golden wheat field rising from black soil. Ukraine is often called the breadbasket of Europe, and its fertile land has long nourished not only grain, but literature, music, and cultural memory. This image became the visual heart of the event, reflecting both abundance and endurance. Heartlands offered audiences a deep experience of Ukrainian culture through poetry, music, storytelling, food, and shared presence. To my knowledge, it was the most substantial Ukrainian literary performance ever staged in the Southern Hemisphere, and I am proud to have supported it. My role extended across the full visual identity of the event. I created the key artwork used throughout all materials, designed print collateral including posters, programmes, and food signage, developed digital assets for multiple platforms, and contributed to stage design. During the performance, my artwork formed the visual backdrop on the large screen behind the performers, shaping the atmosphere of the evening.