Oksana Movchan

Artist about herself:

I am a Ukrainian born visual artist, residing in Canada. I received my PhD in Printmaking from the Ukrainian National Academy of Fine Art and Architecture. Throughout the years of my professional career I’ve been working in various fields and medias including printmaking, painting, public art and as a glass artist. 

My work investigates personal memory, metaphor, cultural iconography and history through poetic narrative and abstract storytelling.

In December 2016 I received an EAC Cultural Diversity in the Arts Individual Project Grant which facilitated the opportunity to create a series of large-scale acrylic paintings, (‘Pendulum’ is one of them), exploring a new artistic voice for myself. I researched deeply through this period and broke significant new ground utilizing a new aesthetic and artistic technique for myself. 

Some fundamental characteristics were established during the ten-month project. I am compelled and committed to develop my new artistic language much further. In the midst of that process, I found myself playing with forms of abstract nature, mixed with super-flat decorative surfaces and objects painted in a realistic manner. This mix of different styles allows me to be versatile in my storytelling and rigorous in the challenging task to combine multiple elements to create a harmonious and cohesive narrative.

My intention is to tell a personal story about healing using intuitive and symbolic language, which can be interpreted in many different ways by different viewers, depending on what they are relating to. I endeavour  to create an environment that resonates with viewers in ways that help them to open up and look deeper inside. I aim for the work to be a guide and the facilitator for the process of healing, inspiring people to explore their real but perhaps unknown ability to build or change their own future.