1. Have you always been interested in visual arts? And how did you start doing that?
You can say that. My mother was an architect by profession, I really liked drawing next to her as a child. Then I enrolled the state art school, then studied at the National Academy of Arts in Kyiv, then were the postgraduate studies and the Union of Artists of Ukraine. My choice was definitely not accidental, I went very deliberately towards it.

2. Do you always enjoy your work?
Yes, this is probably one of the main things in life that brings me joy and makes me happy. When I can’t draw, I feel bad. I remember one case when I had already graduated from the academy, I was sitting in the workshop and working, then I got distracted and just sat looking at my work, and I caught myself smiling. At that moment I realized that my work, my creativity were making me happy.

3. I must say that I learned about you and your beautiful works, on 2nd of April current year, thanks to the great efforts of Victoria Nagy Vajda. She organized a beautiful exhibition of yours in Bucharest at Arbor.art.room, called “Suflet rănit”- „A wounded soul”. Could you please tell us more about that exhibition?
I am very grateful to Mrs. Victoria for organising this exhibition and helping me a lot. Together we were able to raise funds for artists who suffered from the war. At that moment, I had no physical or moral strength to organize anything. She took over the entire organization process, only consulted with me. It was an exhibition of prints, my main works. I am very glad that at least in this way I was able to tell about Ukraine.

4. A lot of people around the world are worried about the situation in Ukraine and are in solidarity with the people there. Many of the Ukrainians have left Ukraine and it is not known when or if they will return. However, you recently returned to your country. Tell us please, how do you manage to keep creating and what thoughts or things motivate you? How do you start your day and how do you set to work in such times?
This is a very painful experience, the most difficult in my life. A complete sense of losing your life, excruciating pain and complete uncertainty. I never wanted to live in another country. Therefore, it was very difficult for me to be away from home. It felt like you were plucked like a flower from the ground with its roots and thrown away. You seem to be alive, but you have lost your land. But being in constant stress, worrying about the life of the child, not being able to sleep, eat, and having no idea of what will happen next forced me to leave Ukraine. We were in Montenegro for 4 months, then another two in the west of Ukraine. We returned home in September. I had the impression that I had not gone anywhere. There are my native walls, the usual atmosphere, it was more or less calm in Kyiv for 1.5 months, until missile attacks on the infrastructure and more started. It’s hard to describe what I feel, it’s like you’re trying to live a normal life, do simple things, you feel normal, but it’s not like that.. no matter how much we pretend to live a normal life and say that everything is ok, everything is not ok… but you try to go on with your life. Nowadays, the electricity is turned off very often, so it is difficult to plan anything. I try to use every free minute for creativity, because it saves me, distracts me, gives me strength. I try to arrange my creative space as best as possible, surround myself with beautiful things, buy flowers, observe nature, constantly try to notice beautiful little things, focus my attention on this. And the best motivation is a child and faith in victory and peace, so you can never give up, you must always do something.

5. Your style resembles the techniques of Baroque iconography and Flemish painting. Something truly amazing and unique I think. How did you begin doing that? And what’s your favourite thing about it?
You have described my style very accurately, thank you. I admire the Ukrainian baroque and I really like Flemish painting. I was interested in baroque even while studying at the academy, I studied in the workshop of monumental painting and temple culture of the famous prof. MA. Storozhenko. Education was built around the studies of Byzantine and Baroque icons. This served as an impetus for my further creativity. I admire Renaissance art, Dutch art, I adore Ukrainian Baroque, but I also love the lightness of the Impressionists. But for me these are different things. While writing an icon, I concentrate and for me it is like meditation. The impressionist painting is more about the release of emotions, something lighter and in the moment.

6. What did you want to be when you were a child?
As I already said, I have been drawing since the childhood, so I wanted to be an artist. And I was very fond of dogs and wanted to be a veterinarian, but art won.

7. What does success mean to you and is it important?
Success for me is first of all self-fulfillment, recognition and a material component. I think that feedback is important for the artist, the feeling that what you are doing is something valuable and it is needed and brings positive emotions for someone else except for yourself.

8. Name the biggest overall lesson you’ve learned in your life being a visual artist.
The most important thing for me is to be honest with myself. I once heard a piece of advice that stuck with me, „Never do something badly on purpose, if you do it three times you’ll never do it good again,” this was about a doctor, but it probably applies to everyone.

9. What is your personal or professional motto?
„To make this world better”, I always try to carry positivity in my work, it may sound cringe, but it is important for me to make the world around me kinder, more beautiful. During the war, was added the „function” of enlightenment and popularization of Ukrainian art in the world. I realized that thanks to the themes of my paintings, I can tell about Ukraine through them and thus help, this is very important for me.

10. If you were magically given two more hours per day, what would you do with them?
Earlier I would have said that I would work, but now I would spend time with my child, family, relatives, go for walks and enjoy life. Especially during the war, you start to appreciate such simple things more.

11. Can you please, give a piece of advice to the people that want to start a career as a visual artists, but have some fears or doubts in themselves or in what they are doing.

It is very important to understand the goal you want to achieve. If creativity is for pleasure, then you just need to relax and do as you want, as you feel and enjoy the process. If you do it professionally, you must contemplate and analyze a lot, work on improving the technique and never stop learning. I once heard the opinion that if you can not draw, you can live without it, then it is better to choose another profession. There is something in that, because being an artist is a way of life. And there should be doubts, it is an impetus to move and improve further.

12. What is your biggest wish at the moment?
Of course, our victory and peace. I am answering your questions now, and we have an air alert and rockets flying at us. The realities of our lives, I really want to see a peaceful sky again and live peacefully.

– Thank you Olga, for taking your time in answering these questions. I wish you all the best and let there be peace on earth.
–  Thank you very much for the invitation to the interview and the opportunity to talk about my work. I wish you peace and happiness!