Angela Kushchyk

Angela Kushchyk (; born 15 April 1974, Kyiv) is a Ukrainian artist working in painting and graphic arts, including lithography and etching. Member of the National Association of Artists (Germany).

Biography Kushchyk was born in Kyiv in 1974. From 1981 to 1991, she studied at Lyceum No. 157 in Kyiv, while also attending Art School No. 3 from 1986 to 1990.

Between 1993 and 1999, she studied at the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture specializing in book graphics (class of Halyna I. Halynska).

From 2019 to 2021, Kushchyk lived in Ethiopia, where she produced a series of graphic and painting works dedicated to African themes, using local materials. In 2020, she visited Lalibela in northern Ethiopia, which influenced her artistic practice.

She participates in Ukrainian and international exhibitions. Her works are held in private collections in Ukraine and internationally.

In May 2022, she received the Europeans in Art Award in the category “Fine Art / Street Art / Photo and Video Art” for the project STOP the WAR in UKRAINE in Munich, Germany.

Work

Kushchyk’s artistic career developed in several stages. Initially in Kyiv she worked primarily in graphic art, focusing on lithography, engraving, and etching.

Her contributions to book graphics include illustrations for the Ukrainian primer Bukvar by M. S. Vashulenko and N. F. Skrypchenko (Kyiv: Osvita, 2001–2007), and a graphic element for the covers of Heinz Strubenhoff's books Was suchst du in der Fremde? Entwicklungshilfe zwischen Ideal und Wirklichkeit (Pliening: Verlagshaus Schlosser, 2026) and What are you Looking for in Foreign Lands? Development Aid: between Ideal and Reality (Europe Books, 2026).

Later she switched to painting. Art critic Valentyna Yefremova notes original manner and professional use of various acrylic techniques by the artist:

Kushchyk developed techniques at the merging of painting and graphic art. In a series of works created during her time in Ethiopia, she used textured methods, including cutting through layers of terracotta acrylic paint, to depict human figures and create expressive depth. Her work also includes black-and-white compositions characterised by minimal brushstrokes and simplified forms.

Her Ethiopian period was influenced by encounters with local artists, as well as by the cultures of the Mursi, Afar, and Maasai peoples, and the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela. During this time, Kushchyk created more than 100 works in various media.

Her experience with the echoes of war on another continent became relevant in Kyiv during the first weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Between February and April 2022, she created a series of graphic works documenting the impact of war on the lives of Ukrainians.

Many of these works were created in bomb shelters in Kyiv and later formed the basis of the art book BIL. SCHMERZ. PAIN (Feniks, 2023).

The art book, which includes graphics, photographs, and documentation of the project’s reception across Europe, captures the full spectrum of emotions and reflections experienced by the artist during wartime.

Her later work includes painted portraits that aim to convey both the physical appearance and psychological states of the subjects.

Solo exhibitions 1999 — A Glance into Eternity, NEF Gallery, Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Kyiv 2021 — I am in Ethiopia, St. George Golla Art Gallery, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 2022 — War Diaries in the Heart of Europe, U.S. Consulate General, Hamburg, Germany 2022 — Ukraine. Way of the Cross, Embassy of Ukraine, Warsaw, Poland 2022 — STOP the WAR in UKRAINE, K-Fest, Killorglin, Ireland 2022 — From Lalibela to the War in Ukraine, Hauptkirche St. Nikolai, Hamburg, Germany 2022 — STOP the WAR in UKRAINE, Ballybunion Arts Festival, Ireland 2022–2023 — STOP the WAR in UKRAINE, KUNSTLABOR 2, Munich, Germany 2023 — Bil. Schmerz. Pain, Consulate General of Ukraine, Hamburg, Germany 2023 — Will to Win, Am Schwarzen Meer Gallery, Bremen, Germany 2025 — Art as a Lifeline, Hauptkirche St. Nikolai, Hamburg, Germany

Group exhibitions 2016 — Creating from the Invisible, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Kyiv 2016 — The Majestic Bible, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Kyiv 2017 — Together Along the Path of Life, 100th anniversary of NAOMA, Artist Gallery, Kyiv 2017 — International exhibition held in conjunction with the 57th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy 2018 — Ukrainian Art Week, Kyiv 2020 — ADDIS International Art Symposium, Addis Ababa Museum, Ethiopia 2021 — ArtAntAlyA International Contemporary Art Fair (online), Antalya, Turkey 2021 — Multimedia exhibition Andila, Milan / Fuerteventura 2022 — Ukrainian Diaries: Art in Times of War, World Bank Group International Finance Corporation office, Vienna, Austria

Projects

2021 — I am in Ethiopia, personal project supported by the Embassy of Ukraine in Ethiopia 2022 — STOP the WAR in UKRAINE (in collaboration with Kateryna Onul) presented in Poland, Germany, Ireland, and Austria

Philanthropy In 2022, Kushchyk and her husband, Heinz Strubenhoff, established the charitable foundation Angela und Heinz Stiftung aimed at providing help to people in need in Ukraine and Ethiopia. She is personally involved in charitable activities supporting internally displaced persons in Ukraine and children of Ukrainian defenders killed in the war.

References

External links

https://europa-mai.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Stop_W_version-awareness_s.pdf https://ahstiftung.de/gefoerderte-projkete/

Angela Kushchyk

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