"Funny pumpkin" Painting

Vira Ustianska is a Ukrainian-born artist whose work merges realism and impressionism into a distinctive visual language centered on light, memory, and emotional resonance.
Trained at the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts, she developed a strong academic foundation that underpins her confident technique and refined compositions. Her practice has evolved through major life transitions, including her relocation to the United States in 2022, where the landscapes of California introduced a new scale of light, color, and atmosphere into her work.
At the core of Ustianska’s practice is the exploration of memory and identity. This is most powerfully expressed in her ongoing series “1000 Sunflowers”—a growing body of work that reflects resilience, cultural roots, and personal history. Alongside this, her landscapes, still lifes, and portraits capture fleeting moments with sensitivity and depth, transforming everyday subjects into timeless, emotionally charged images.
Her paintings are recognized for their luminous color, expressive brushwork, and ability to balance classical discipline with immediacy. Whether working on an intimate miniature or a large-scale canvas, Ustianska creates works that invite collectors to connect on a deeply human level.
“A simple vase in the rays of the setting sun is more precious to me than all earthly blessings,” she says, “because it reminds me of warm evenings spent with my family, in those days when there was no war yet.”
Ustianska actively engages with the art community through exhibitions, plein air events, demonstrations, and workshops, sharing the traditions of Eastern European painting while continuing to expand her own artistic language.
Over the past four years in the United States, she has participated in more than 45 exhibitions, including juried and museum-affiliated shows, gaining increasing recognition within the American art scene.
Vira is an active member of several professional art organizations, including the National Union of Artists of Ukraine (since 2013), the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild (where she serves as a board member), the American Impressionist Society, the California Art Club, Oil Painters of America, the East County Art Association, and the Kensington-Talmadge Business Association.
Vira has received over 17 awards and recognitions in the United States and internationally.