Kateryna Kosianenko was born in 1978 in Kyiv, Ukraine. In 1996, she graduated from the Taras Shevchenko State Art Secondary School. In 2002, she graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture (NAFAA), studying at the Theatre and Scenery Department under Danylo Lyder. In the same year, she joined the National Union of Artists of Ukraine.

In 2005, she completed an internship assisting at a master class at the NAFAA, a fine arts workshop of the nationally acclaimed artist, Professor Vasyl Hurin. At this time, she completed a Master of Arts degree in painting. Since 1999, she has been participating in national art exhibitions, and since 2003 in international art exhibitions and plein air exhibitions. In 2009, she interned at the Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris, France) as a resident of the Cité Internationale des Arts. She is a member of the Ukraine-France Association (Kyiv, Ukraine). In 2011, she interned at the J. Matejka Krakow Academy of Fine Arts in Poland.

 

Among her most interesting international exhibitions are the Autumn Salon (2003, 2006, Salon D’Automne, Paris, France), VII Florence Biennale of Contemporary Art (2009, Biennale Internazionale dell’Arte Contemporanea, Florence, Italy), “Ukrainian Women in Art and Culture,” “Gallery Atelier in Beeld” jointly with the Matrix Orange Foundation (2010, The Hague, Netherlands), “Genius Loci. Tonino Guerra” (2015, Kyiv National Museum of Russian Art), Kyiv art gallery KalitaArtClub, and Tonino Guerra Pennabilli Association (Italy) under the auspices of the Embassy of Italy in Ukraine. Kateryna was also a participant in national exhibitions held by the National Union of Artists of Ukraine and the Directorate of Art Exhibitions, specifically, the National Triennial of Fine Arts (2007, 2013, 2016), “Ukraine from Trypillia to the present in the images of modern artists” (2006, 2013), and “Picturesque Ukraine” (2013).

 

Her recent exhibit "Victory" showcases the paintings chosen to accompany this writing exhibition and several others. 

 

After seeing the exhibit, Taras Dobko, rector of Ukrainian Catholic University recorded a few of his thoughts on the work and what it means to him as a viewer and fellow Ukrainian.

 

 

Kateryna Kosianenko was born into a creative family – her father was a painter, her mother an art historian. According to Kosianenko, tradition was of great importance in her creative development and choice of who to become. For her, art is “kindred work,” a philosophy of life, life itself, a prayer. Kosianenko received a thorough art education. She has participated in many Ukrainian and international exhibitions, symposia, art residencies, and is a laureate of prestigious art prizes, awards, and medals, including the Honored Artist of Ukraine. Her talent and works are recognized and her works belong to collections of several countries. She has received numerous positive reviews and is the subject of a large number of documentary videos, in particular, she is the central subject of the documentary film “Art in the Land of War” by the studio DocNoteFilms and the film association Babylon13.