Svitlana Mykhalevych

I am a Ukrainian artist based in France, working primarily with watercolor, painting, and drawing.

My practice begins with direct observation — cities, landscapes, objects, light, and everyday life — but I am less interested in describing what I see than in what remains after seeing: a rhythm, a color relationship, a fragment of memory, a sense of movement or silence.

I often move between the recognizable and the abstract, allowing color, line, empty space, and the natural behavior of the medium to shape the image. For me, painting is a way of transforming lived experience rather than simply recording it.

My artistic practice was formed in Ukraine, where I studied painting and lived and worked for many years. Since 2025, I have been based in France, continuing to explore place, perception, memory, and the emotional experience of the visible world.

My work has been exhibited internationally and is held in museum and private collections. Original artworks are available through Saatchi Art.

5 Facts

1. 60+ Exhibitions — I have participated in more than 60 exhibitions and international art projects across Europe, the United States, and Ukraine.

2. Museum Collections — My work is represented in museum collections, including the Fa...

1991–1996 — South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after K. D. Ushynsky, Faculty of Fine Arts, Odesa, Ukraine
Specialized in painting under Professor and artist Valentin Filipenko, with a strong focus on painting, drawing, composition, and color theory.

1987–1991 — Odesa Art School No. 2, Odesa, Ukraine
Classical training in drawing, painting, and composition.

Selected Professional & Interdisciplinary Studies

2021 — Curator of Contemporary Art, SKVOT, Ukraine

2020 — Modern Art & Ideas, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Coursera

2019 — Creative Enterprise Programme, British Council, Ukraine

2016 — History of Photography Course, Odesa, Ukraine

2015 — Photography and Master Classes, Odesa, Ukraine

Alongside my formal art education, I have pursued interdisciplinary studies in photography, psychology, landscape design, acting, curatorial practice, and creative entrepreneurship, expanding the ways I approach perception, space, narrative, and human experience in my art.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
• 2021 – Butterflies in the Garden, Odesa Botanical Garden, Ukraine.
• 2021 – Radical Defenselessness, virtual exhibition.
• 2019 – Pink and Red. #Metamodern, Gallery 202, Odesa, Ukraine.
• 2019 – Unnecessary Art (art performance), Gallery 202, Odesa, Ukraine.
• 2018 – Watercolor Painting by Svetlana Mikhalevich, the Bernardazzi Greenhouse in Odesa Botanical Garden, Ukraine.
• 2018 – From Sea to Sea, Gallery 202, Odesa, Ukraine.
• 2017 – Travel to Italy, A.V. Bleshchunov Municipal Museum of Personal Collections, Odesa, Ukraine.
• 2016 – Painting Catch, A.V. Bleshchunov Municipal Museum of Personal Collections, Odesa, Ukraine.