Olha Matviienko

My name is Olha Matviienko. I am a watercolor artist based in Kyiv, Ukraine.
I began with botanical painting. The full-scale invasion in 2022 became a turning point. After four months as a refugee in Croatia, I returned to Kyiv in July 2022. That experience of displacement and homecoming now shapes my practice.

Today, my work develops along four strands:

• I create calm, positive artwork on botany, animals, and traditions. It is my way of emotional recovery centers on close observation and the joy of process; I aim to convey joy, peace, and stillness.

• I paint city series that explore attachment to place. A home city can be loved, resisted, and longed for at once; ordinary streets and familiar trees hold our strongest memories.

• I examine the psychological impact of war on individual and collective life, tracing shifts in emotion and the coping strategies that help people live within a new reality.

• I research Ukrainian culture, traditions, and customs, translating them into a contemporary visual language.

Group Exhibitions:

2025
- Between Worlds, Taras Shevchenko National Museum, Kyiv, Ukraine
- Temporary here, Meta-Senses Gallery, Ukraine
- FabrianoInAcquarello international watercolor festival, Bologna, Italy

2024
- Invisible Gardens, Taras Shevchenko National Museum, Kyiv, Ukraine
- International Watercolor Project Step by Step, Four Season, Gdansk, Poland

2023
- Unbreakable Flowers, Mytets gallery, Kyiv, Ukraine
- Discourse of War 3D digital international exhibition, Artwork Gallery
- International Watercolor Festival Freedom Ukraine, online
- Volunteers: saving lives, “Pritličje” Town Square, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Illuminant, International 3D digital exhibition, Meta-Senses Gallery, Ukraine
- Kraji Moči. Places of Power, Finžgarjeva gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia

2021
- Botanical Stories, Ukrainian Culture and Art Center, Kyiv, Ukraine