I believe I have a story to tell—one rooted in loss, hope, and the undeniable will to endure. It is the story of my homeland, Ukraine.

Artist Statement:

Through my current work, I seek to tell the stories that are often overlooked—those buried beneath the flood of daily information. These are stories of distant events that, despite seeming far away, are deeply intertwined with our shared human experience.

I work with bold, expressive colors to show that even in the darkest moments, in the heaviest of life there is still hope. Balancing realism and abstraction, I strive to provide enough visual context while allowing symbolism to carry deeper meaning. My process involves building layers, starting with a thin background wash, then gradually applying thick, textured layers. 

The central figures in my paintings are plants, insects, animals, and birds. Through them, I strive to preserve the memory of the landscapes I hold dear—to raise awareness, evoke connection, and inspire resilience for generations to come.

Photo Credit - Tomer Texler

Artist Bio 

Sofiia Sveshnikova was born in 1997 among beautiful Ukrainian fields of wild flowers and wheat. She was always creative and loved arts since childhood. Her unconventional and highly imaginative thinking was not generally well accepted by neither her peers, nor her local art teacher. Sofiia suppressed her artistic roots and went to become a linguist like her parents suggested she would do. Only after moving to the US, getting BA in Graphic Design and working for the commercial world Sofiia desperately decided to find her way to fine arts. Currently she is an MFA student at Azusa Pacific University and pursuing her destiny call of being an artist.