Vira Ustianska

Vira Ustianska is an Ukrainian artist and an art teacher, a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine since 2013. Paintings by Vira Ustianska are in Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, and Shargorod National Art museums and in private collections of Ukraine, Poland, USA, Canada, Great Britain, France, Spain, Lithuania, Rumunia, Taiwan, China. Painting by Vira Ustianska contains a special energy. She works techniques of traditional Ukrainian, South-East painting school. She got a master's degree of painting at Kharkiv State Academy of design and Art, where she studied at the portrait-genre workshop under the guidance of professors Victor Chaus and Vasily Ganotskiy. Before the full-scale invasion, Vira was active in exhibition, teaching and social activities in Ukraine. In 2016 she was a curator of the Drawing Studio at the National Union of Artists of Ukraine in Zaporizhzhia. In 2017 she opened a studio of academic painting ''V-ART''. 2018-2019 She worked in college and taught students painting, drawing, plastic anatomy, coloring, composition. In 2021 she took part in the International competition “The Best Artist” and she received the honor award of Art. In 2020 she started to work on the project “1000 Sunflowers”. In December 2020 She had a Solo exhibition “Sunflowers by Vira Ustianska” in Zaporizhian National Art Museum. In 2022, together with her daughter, she evacuated to Poland. There she took part in public exhibitions in the cities of Millets and Rzeszów. Also in exhibitions and auctions in Warsaw, London, Slovakia. On August 24, 2022, Vira Ustianska, together with her daughter Vasylisa Tkach, arrived in the USA, where she continues to create new paintings. Inspired by the Paradise nature of California, the artist has begun a new series "Local landscapes". A subtle sense of color and vibrant brushstrokes join together and create a symbiosis of realism and impressionism, breathing life into every picture. On the new land, she retains a love for traditional still life which is still the dominant genre in her work.

“Some compositions tell us about momentary feelings of delight and joy, and we can feel like children for a moment and just as sincerely enjoy the beauty of ordinary things around us. Floral still lifes are the remaining moments of a yesterday that is running away forever. A favorite flower, carefully grown in the garden, has finally bloomed on canvas and it’s like magic to view and admire this moment day after day. A simple vase in the rays of the setting sun is now more precious to me than all earthly blessings because it reminds me of a warm evening spent with my family, in those days when there was no war yet. Also, today, when working on new projects, I try to preserve important memories, which sometimes simply dissolve in the information noise of today.”

Summer Time

oil on canvas

24" x 30" x 1.5"

$1020.00

2023

This painting was painted outdoors last summer. Here, the sun's rays reveal to us reflexes hidden from our usual perception. Sometimes it seems as if we can detect the aroma from sun-warmed surfaces, which further enhances our emotions. The summer bring us a feeling of carelessness, as in childhood.