Olha Lisowska
Book and editorial illustrator
ResidencyOstriv Platform
Hosting periodAutumn - winter 2023
BIO
Olha Lisowska is a freelance book and editorial illustrator from Kharkiv with a passion for graphics. Graduating from the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts in 2013, she has continued to explore various forms of graphic art. In addition to her career as an illustrator, Olha actively engages in exhibition activities as a graphic artist and has showcased her works in group and solo exhibitions in Ukraine, Europe and the USA.
Lisowska draws inspiration from her immediate surroundings, creating artworks that are a collage of everyday objects, childhood memories, subconscious images and fears. Her creations rarely follow a clear narrative; instead, they unfold as irrational stories, crafting atmospheres and spaces governed by their own set of laws.
Story of experience of risk, relocation and/or exile
Lisowska currently lives in Kyiv as Kharkiv suffers from a lot of shelling following the full-scale Russian invasion. On 12 March 2022, she left for Gdansk, Poland where she lived there for 7 months. However, she chose to return to Ukraine because she missed it very much.
Projects created during the residency period
During her residency, Lisowska worked on a picture book titled “Wolf Swarm.” The picture book narrates the story of a girl pursued by wolves, serving as a metaphor for the experience of living with depression. The project has garnered recognition and was selected for display at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. The artist is actively working on the book, which will have approximately 80 pages upon its completion.
This programme is organized by Perpetuum Mobile (PM) as part of the Artists at Risk (AR)-Network in partnership with UNESCO and with the support of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and Teiger Foundation.
