Svitlana Osobik was born in Poltava, a town in central Ukraine. She graduated in 1986 with a degree in art from the prestigious Academy of Decorative Arts in Lviv.
Svitlana’s childhood and formative years were spent in a country that was still a part of the Soviet Union. Yet she cherishes her unique and distinctive Ukrainian identity, which has had the single greatest impact on her oeuvre.
Having grown up in a country with a glorious past, which the present belies, Svitlana’s art grapples with the issues of nostalgia, legacies and lost imaginary homelands. Many of her works display a fond regard for traditional craftsmanship and artesian skills, being rich with detail and fine brushwork.
She is a multi-talented artist who has dabbled in various art forms such as porcelain painting, batik art, silkscreen painting, and tapestries, before settling on oils on canvas as her favourite medium.
Her deep emotional ties and spiritual connection with her homeland are explored in several paintings, the most direct reference being in her canvas Kyev Rus. A nostalgic reminiscence of Ukraine when it was one of the greatest countries of medieval Europe, the painting is rendered in blue to represent Ukraine’s open skies and nascent freedom.
All her paintings have impeccable draughtsmanship and an element of portraiture in them, being born of her strong interest in figurative art and the influence of Russian masters. Portraiture is used as a device to attract viewers’ attention and draw them into the canvas. The energy, vivacity and the use of narrative language recall folk art minus motif making, but with the decorative intent intact.
Svitlana arrived in Dubai in the mid-nineties and the fluidity and multiculturalism of Dubai has further inspired her current body of work. Her works can be found in private collections in Ukraine, Dubai and London.
Her deep emotional ties and spiritual connection with her homeland are explored in several paintings, the most direct reference being in her canvas Kyev Rus. A nostalgic reminiscence of Ukraine when it was one of the greatest countries of medieval Europe, the painting is rendered in blue to represent Ukraine’s open skies and nascent freedom.
All her paintings have impeccable draughtsmanship and an element of portraiture in them, being born of her strong interest in figurative art and the influence of Russian masters. Portraiture is used as a device to attract viewers’ attention and draw them into the canvas. The energy, vivacity and the use of narrative language recall folk art minus motif making, but with the decorative intent intact.
Svitlana arrived in Dubai in the mid-nineties and the fluidity and multiculturalism of Dubai has further inspired her current body of work. Her works can be found in private collections in Ukraine, Dubai and London.