"Sunrise at the Lake" Painting

My name is Yuka Gubenko. I’m an artist living in Israel, in a small place in the Negev Desert. My artistic journey began with simple curiosity — a desire to try. What started as a quiet hobby gradually became a path of deep exploration. I studied at the Visual Art Center in Tel Aviv (2018–2020) and continue to evolve through workshops and constant studio practice. My work is a reflection of emotional and elemental states — often abstract, sometimes shaped into landscapes or subtle figures. Nature is my guide: light, wind, the stillness of the desert, the texture of earth. I use oil, soft pastels, acrylics, and often work with palette knives and modeling paste to add depth, movement, and physicality. Painting, for me, is not about representation, but about evocation — creating a space where viewers can pause, feel, remember. It’s a form of sensing rather than telling. Relocating to the desert brought new rhythms, silences, and light — and with it, a new chapter in my artistic research.