BIOGRAPHY
Olena Mosievych (b. 1978) is a Ukrainian-born, U.S.-based artist whose career spans both academic research and artistic practice. She studied drawing and painting at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, and Byzantine sacred art at the Ukrainian Catholic University. She also holds a PhD in Finance and Economics from Kyiv Mohyla Academy, the oldest university in Eastern Europe. Anticipating Russia’s aggression, she relocated to the United States, where she continues her artistic exploration in dialogue with questions of identity, migration, and cultural memory in the context of war.
Mosiyevych’s work has been exhibited internationally, with notable presentations at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum, the Museum of Ukrainian Painting, and the Ukrainian National Museum in Chicago. She was awarded an artist residency at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts and is a featured Ukrainian artist in the Princeton University Library’s Slavic Collections.
At the time of Mosiyevych’s departure, her work was exhibited at various museums across Ukraine, including the Kuindzhi Center of Contemporary Art in Mariupol. Due to the Russian invasion, her family has been dispersed across three countries and the location of some of these works remains unknown.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Russian aggression forced my relocation to the US from Ukraine. Since then, war has cancelled my exhibitions and my paintings in museums have been lost. Meanwhile, my parents refuse to leave their homeland, my siblings are dispersed, my children have become bilingual, and America is my home.
Living in Iowa, I am beginning to integrate the landscape of the Midwest into my work, where trees emerge as a central motif, symbolizing resilience, renewal and rooting with my new homeland.
The roots of my artistic vision lie deep within Ukrainian culture and traditions, from the vibrant colors and intricate ornaments of folk painting to the profound symbolism of Byzantine iconography. In the United States, I feel a kinship with earlier generations of artists from my homeland who brought with them their own understanding of space and form. Building on this lineage, I have developed a visual language in which inherited memory meets the resonance of the American present—a space where identity does not dissolve but finds new ways to speak.
One of the questions I'm currently researching: How does a Ukrainian sensibility interact with the America to create a new perspective? How my Ukrainian eyes perceive Middle America through the lens of identity, migration, and cultural memory in a time of war?
NOTABLE COLLECTIONS
The Ukrainian National Museum, Chicago, USAIs one of the most important collections of Ukrainian art and culture outside of Ukraine.
Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, USAKHN is home to the Kimmel Permanent Collection that showcases the work of Nebraska and regional artists.
The Nebraska Governor's Residence, USAThe Governor’s Residence exhibition space allows visitors to acknowledge and appreciate the diversity of statewide artistic talent.
Parkhomovsky Art Museum, UkraineThe Parkhomovsky Art Museum features artworks by Picasso, Kandinsky, Pissarro, and Malevich, who grew up in Parhomivka.
Modern Art Museum | Kuindzhi Center of Contemporary Art, Mariupol, UkraineThe Kuindzhi Center for Contemporary Art and Culture is a renowned educational and cultural institution in Mariupol, Ukraine, destroyed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The current location and condition of exhibits remains unknown.
Corporate Public collections Assurity Life Insurance, USAApril Sampson Bryan Cancer Center, USA
SOLO AND TWO PERSON SHOWS
2025 Between Roots and Horizon, The Ukrainian National Museum, Chicago, USA
2024 Resilience, Kiechel Fine Art, Lincoln NE, USA.
2023 Canceled Because of War, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Nebraska City, USA,
2023 Canceled Because of War, Kiechel Fine Art, Lincoln NE, USA. Kiechel Fine Art is one of American Art Awards 20 Best Galleries / Museums in America, 2022 and he Best Gallery or Museum in Nebraska, 2022
2022 The Age of Melancholy Modern Art Museum | Kuindzhi Center of Contemporary Art and Culture, Mariupol, Ukraine (cancelled due to Russian invasion)
2022 The Age of Melancholy Art Centre, Dnipro, Ukraine (cancelled due to Russian invasion)
2021 The Age of Melancholy Ideas Gallery, kmbs, Kyiv Mohula Academy, Kyiv, Ukraine
2021 Winter Album, Art Space, Dnipro, Ukraine
2021 Winter Album, Museum of Ukrainian Painting, Dnipro, Ukraine
2020 Vibration, Mytets, ("Artist", Ukraine's oldest and most well-known gallery), Kyiv, Ukraine
2020 Two views, Kyiv History Museum & Exhibition Centre , Kyiv, Ukraine
SELECTED GROUP SHOWS
2025 Upcoming Group Exhibition, Kiechel Fine Art, Lincoln, USA
2024 Group Exhibition, Kiechel Fine Art, Lincoln, USA
2023 SIX IN SYNC Exhibition, Kiechel Fine Art, Lincoln, USA
2021 International Group Exhibition, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
2021 International Landscape Exhibition "A.I. Kuinji Memorial", Modern Art Museum | Kuindzhi Center of Contemporary Art, Mariupol, Ukraine
2021 International Exhibition "Graphics in Kharkiv 2021" Kharkiv Regional House of National Union of Artists, Kharkiv, Ukraine
2020-2021 Ukrainian Art Exhibition, House of National Union of Artists, Kyiv, Ukraine
2020-2021 The 3rd International Triennial, Kremenchug City Art Gallery, Kremenchug, Ukraine
2020 ХІІІ Ukrainian Art Exhibition, Dnipro Region House of National Union of Artists, Dnipro. Ukraine
2020 Philosophy of Art House of National Union of Artists, Kyiv, Ukraine
2020 Christmas Art Project The Centre of Ukrainian Culture and Arts LLC, Kyiv, Ukraine
2017 Blockchain Art-Hackathon, Art Exhibition Tour: Kyiv, Prague, Paris, Strasbоurg
RESIDENCIES, AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
2024 Featured Ukrainian artist in the Princeton University Library’s Slavic Collections and the Ukrainian Art Digital Repository (PUL).
2023 Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Nebracka City, USA
2017 1st Blockchain Art-Hackathon, UNIT CITY, Kyiv, Ukraine
ARTIST TALKS & PUBLICATIONS
2025 Artist Talk, Ukrainian National Museum, Chicago, USA
2024 Meet the Artist, Kiechel Fine Art, Lincoln, USA
2024 Ukranian artist reflects on her homeland and new home in Kiechel Fine Art exhibition, The Lincoln Journal Star, Lincoln, USA
2024 Ukrainian artist shares war-torn work in Lincoln, KOLN News, USA
2023 Artist Talk, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Nebraska City, USA
PROFESSIONAL VOLUNTERING:
Actively supporting Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression, I have used my art to raise funds.In March, 2022 I initiated and coorganized an art auction in Nebraska that raised $26,000 to support Ukraine. Thanks to the generous support of local people, friends, and organizations, more than 150 attendees purchased art donated by more than 20 regional artists.