Olya Kravchenko
In my paintings, I develop the ancient tradition of icon painting, using egg tempera on specially prepared boards and applying silvering and gilding, just as the old masters did. I often combine painting with contemporary art forms - installation and multimedia - which create a cohesive impression.
When I create my icons, I aim to present time-honoured themes in a new way. The creation process is captivating, primarily when I depict something familiar and seen hundreds of times using the oldest painting technique, which has its unique texture and methods of volume modelling. Through this combination of the ancient and the new, I aim to captivate the viewers, who simultaneously immerse themselves and discover the depth of tradition while acquainting themselves with my work.
Was born in Lviv in 1985. 2002 - 2008 - studied at the Lviv National Academy of Arts, department of restoration of works of art. 2003 – 2008 - participation in the restoration practice of the painting restoration department at the specialized scientific and restoration institute "Ukrzakhidproektrestavratsiya". 2008 – scholarship program of the Ministry of Culture of Poland "Gaude Polonia", Warsaw. Since 2010, a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine.
Exhibitions:
2022 - audiovisual project "Transformation",Franko House. Lviv National Ivan Franko Literary and Memorial Museum, Lviv, Ukraine.
2022 - "Depth" project, Museum of the Archdiocese in Warsaw, Poland.
2022 - audiovisual project "Transformation", "Underpass Vagabundo" gallery, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine.
2021 - audiovisual project "Transformation", "Dzyga" gallery, Lviv, Ukraine.
2019 - presentation of the "Open Workshop" project at a creative residence in the House of Artists as part of the "Long Night of Museums" project in Salzburg, Austria.
2018 - "Moments" project, Contemporary sacred art gallery "Iconart", Lviv, Ukraine.
2018 – personal exhibition as part of the festival "Ethniesy - 6. Festiwal Muzyki Tradycyjnej i Ludowej", Miejskie Centrum Kultury, Bydgoszcz, Poland.
2017 - "Ecliptic" project, "Versus" gallery, Wroclaw, Poland.
2016 – exhibition "Sadok Edenskyi Kolo Khaty", Contemporary sacred art gallery "Iconart", Lviv, Ukraine.
2015 – project dedicated to the Holodomor in Ukraine "Didn't roduce a crop?!", First Ukrainian Theater for Children and Youth, Lviv, Ukraine.
2014 - exhibition "SVIT", Contemporary sacred art gallery "Iconart", Lviv, Ukraine.
2011 - "Zviroliudy" exhibition, "Stari Mury" cafe, Lviv, Ukraine.
2009 – "Dough" project, "Dzyga" gallery, Lviv, Ukraine.
2009 – exhibition "About the most important thing", "Bon Ton" gallery, Lviv, Ukraine.
The paintings are in the museums of Ukraine: Taras Shevchenko National Museum, Kyiv, Museum of Boykivshchyna, Sambir, Franko House, Ivan Franko National Literary and Memorial Museum of Lviv, Lviv; and Poland - Archdiocese Museum, Warsaw, as well as in private collections of Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Argentina, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Norway, USA etc.