BIO

Olesya Voloshka is a 22-year-old, 3rd-year student at the Kharkiv Academy of Arts. She has been painting since childhood and likes to paint nature and landscapes of beautiful places most of all. She loves villages and being outdoors, which she says is probably why her art is dominated by them. Her residency at Bakota Hub is her first experience of an artistic residency.

Story of experience of risk, relocation and/or exile

Artist’s account: I have moved many times in my life and now I have no sense of home. My first home was occupied by the Russians and I was forced to leave. Then I lived in the west of the country and studied in Kharkiv, from which I was also forced to flee when it was under fire at the start of the full-scale invasion. Following that, my studies in easel painting for two years have been in the online format. It is very difficult to study online. I’ve missed live communication with other artists and a safe space, a workshop for productive work.

Projects created during the residency period

During her residency, Voloshka explored the local region, the vast Bakota countryside and the mysticism of the flooded villages. She was so fascinated by the landscapes that she continuously painted them. She felt that the residency enabled her to convey her sense of the local nature.

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.