Oksana Zmiyevska - online solo exhibition - October 08, 2022

Oksana Zmiyevska came to Austria from Crimea at the age of 16 and studied painting at the University of Applied Arts with Johanna Kandl from 2005 and to 2011.

In her paintings, Oksana depicts memories and snapshots with bold gestures using a thick impasto application of paint. Oil is her medium.

She portrays herself, as she enters the stage next to the pulled-back curtain, curiously awaiting the reactions of others. She also shows herself in the past as a teenager partying with her boyfriend but pensively looking to the future.

The self-image and self-reflection are major topics in the arts today. Oksana Zmiyevska confirms this with her painting featuring a newborn child. The child is pictured amidst a crowd of onlookers smiling with affection. Alongside the child is a person we may assume to be the artist. She gazes at her younger self with loving approval.

Another group of works was created by portraying celebrities such as Leonardo di Caprio and Josef Hader. She showed a Leonardo series in 2022 in the prestigious Galeria Pelaires on Palma de Mallorca in Spain. In addition to individual portraits, she paints large group portraits.

Her recent works are characterized by an expressive realism, whereas her older works are more abstract. Impressive is her usage of a vibrant and contrasting color palette. Her skill and talent is revealed in both small and large formats. Our exhibition features recent works.

Text: Andreas Schlichtner 07.10.2022 / edited by Bernice Sokol Kramer