Olena Kirdina is a Ukrainian artist whose work speaks quietly yet powerfully about resilience, inner peace, and emotional reflection. Living and working in Bucha, a small city in the Kyiv region, her creative journey has been shaped by years of professional dedication, a love of figurative storytelling, and—most recently—a confrontation with the trauma of war.
Rather than depicting violence or devastation, Olena paints hope. Her female subjects radiate calm, introspection, and warmth, offering a personal window into the emotions she carries in the aftermath of national tragedy.
A Life Devoted to Art and Teaching
Olena’s relationship with art began early and was built on a solid foundation of education and practice. She attended an art school, then studied at an institute where she specialized in book graphics within the faculty of painting. There, she developed technical precision, a strong eye for composition, and a deep understanding of visual storytelling.
For 15 years, Olena taught painting, drawing, and composition at the very department where she studied. This period not only sharpened her skills but also allowed her to shape the next generation of Ukrainian artists. Her connection to the academic world gave her a solid framework from which to develop her own artistic voice.
Outside the classroom, she collaborated with Kyiv galleries and actively participated in exhibitions, contributing to the local cultural landscape through her distinctive blend of figurative and abstract work.
Bucha, 2022: A Shattered Reality
Everything changed in 2022. Olena remained in Bucha when the war arrived. The city, once a quiet place filled with gardens and family homes, became known internationally as a symbol of devastation. Occupation. Bombing. Horror. The fabric of daily life, once so familiar, was torn apart.
“The brain refused to believe in the reality of what was happening,” she says. Like so many others in Ukraine, she found herself frozen between disbelief and survival.
Bucha was eventually liberated, but the scars of trauma remained. For a time, Olena couldn’t paint at all. “I was able to work again only after a while,” she reflects. When she did return to her studio, she made a pivotal decision: she would not create art about the war. Instead, she would paint what the war could not destroy—emotions, femininity, and a quiet longing for beauty.
Painting the Positive: A Quiet Rebellion
In Olena’s work, every female figure represents not just a subject, but a vessel of her personal experience. Her paintings offer the viewer a chance to pause, to breathe, and to rediscover moments of stillness in a world that often rushes past them.
This artistic choice—to focus on the positive—is not an act of denial. It is a quiet rebellion. By painting peace, softness, and contemplation, Olena reclaims what war attempted to take: joy, beauty, and the inner world of the soul.
“Morning” (2025): Coffee, Calm, and a Smile
One of Olena Kirdina’s recent works, Morning (2025), exemplifies this ethos. A square-format oil painting measuring 90 x 90 cm (35.43 x 35.43 inches), Morning depicts a young woman drinking coffee, lost in thought. A subtle smile lingers on her face, suggesting she is thinking about something warm, perhaps even hopeful.
The composition is a delicate balance between figurative and abstract. The woman herself is rendered with realism—her posture, expression, and quiet presence invite viewers into her private moment. In contrast, the background is abstract, yet it doesn’t overwhelm. Instead, it frames her serenity, allowing the viewer to imagine their own setting around her.
Warm tones dominate the canvas, echoing the comforting ritual of morning coffee. The colors, like the scene itself, do not shout. They hum gently, encouraging stillness. As Olena puts it, the abstract background “does not distract from the main thing but only creates a mood.”
In Morning, we are reminded that in the wake of chaos, peace can still be found—in familiar rituals, in brief reflections, and in the gentle resilience of women.
The Power of Inner Stories
Although Olena Kirdina no longer teaches at the institute, her work continues to educate in a different way. It invites viewers to engage with emotions often overlooked in today’s fast-paced, trauma-saturated world. She shows that painting doesn’t need to mirror external destruction to be meaningful. Sometimes, its greatest strength lies in portraying what is still intact within.
Each of her female subjects seems to carry a secret—an untold story composed not of words, but of glances, postures, and pauses. These characters are not fictional; they are extensions of Olena herself, vessels for her feelings and lived experiences.
Looking Ahead
As Ukraine continues to rebuild, so does Olena Kirdina—brushstroke by brushstroke. She continues to live and work in Bucha, transforming a place once associated with loss into a source of reflection and creation. Her art is not an escape but a reimagining of life’s possibilities.
Through her paintings, Olena quietly reminds us that beauty can survive even in the darkest times. It lives in the smile of a woman with a warm drink. It thrives in quiet thoughts. And it speaks, gently but firmly, in the language of paint.
