Halyna Kysil Klepikovska was born in 1979 in a military garrison near Zhytomyr. Her first education was in engineering. Around the age of 40, she realised her dream and got an education as an artist and designer. Because of the war, she was forced to emigrate with her children, first to Poland, then to the UK.
- Congratulations! Your life path is very interesting, why did you decide to become an artist?
- In my case, it’s hard to say when and why I decided to become an artist. I think I’ve always been one. It’s just that when I was older, I decided to supplement what I had with academic knowledge, so I first entered the College of Culture and Arts, and later completed my master’s degree. An artist is everyone who feels it inside, at some point in time you start to take it more seriously and constantly develop in this direction.
- Your works are very interesting, in what direction do you work, what is your style?
- Abstraction, impressionism, but I am constantly experimenting with both style and subject matter.
- 2022 has changed a lot, how has the war affected your art?
- The war had a very strong impact. Being in forced exile, painting was and is almost the only consolation, it helps to cope with stress and show what is happening inside when it is difficult to talk about it. I think that the imprint of the war will forever remain with me, with every Ukrainian.
- Where do you live now and how is your creative life developing?
- I currently live in England with my two children. From time to time I have exhibitions and actively participate in local charity auctions. I advise children and adults on drawing. My daughter also decided to study art, so I am a tutor for her, as she chose this specialisation in high school. Currently, several of my works are presented at the exhibition “Creating the future” in Munich, which is part of the International Festival of Contemporary Art “TRACE”. Together with the curator and organiser of the Festival, Iryna Fedorenko, we chose my works from the series “Electricity” for the exhibition. This series includes a number of paintings with electric poles. I see a kind of aesthetics in them, they are important nodes and carry light like arteries. These are not just random poles – they were all near my house, wherever I lived recently, so this is the story of my travels, a kind of memento, something I looked at every day from the window. Very often I have a premonition of something, and that’s why this series now, with the blackouts, has a new meaning.
- Very deep and interesting. What are your plans, what’s next?
- England is very picturesque, I am fascinated by these small streets in towns and villages, tradition and stability. So I plan to continue my series of small towns in England. Of course, I plan to show this series at exhibitions.
- What do you consider the most important moment in the development of your artistic career?
- It’s important to develop and listen to yourself, not to stand still and not to try to be like someone else. Just creating is the most important thing. And of course, to learn and not to stop at achievements.
- Thank you for the wonderful communication and we wish you to realise all your plans!
- From me to the readers: a wish to be yourself, to create if you want to, and not to be afraid of evaluation. There will always be people from three camps – those who like it, those who don’t care, and those who don’t like it. The main thing is that you yourself like what you do.
I have a theory of snowmen, as ridiculous as it may sound. People are divided into those who mould them, create them, and those who then look at them and enjoy them, or just pass by. And there are those who will definitely destroy them, kick them down. And it is up to us to decide which category we belong to – creator, observer or destroyer.
Photos from personal archive and social networks