“Watercolour is the language of my feelings and thoughts, of the way I see the world,” says the Ukrainian-born artist Olha Baklan.


“Wherever I am, I look for a connection of stories that have not yet happened or have happened in the past. These signs, symbols and traces are as pervasive as the water that carries my pigment and the paper that receives it.


“My experiments with watercolour seek to show the magical nature of the technique. It is important for me to retain the whiteness and freshness of the paper, leaving room for as-yet-unseen signs.”



Olha has been living in the UK since 2016. She marvels at the nature of this green island, the variety of plants in our gardens, and the incredible colours and patterns of the picturesque shores of the English Riviera.

Each object is given an individual character and mood in her watercolours She loves going on hikes, discovering new landscapes with special lighting and symbolic meaning.

She devoted her efforts to integrating into a new professional environment in the UK by participating in exhibitions and regularly attending an artists’ club in London.

During the Covid-19 lockdown, Olha took part in the wonderful project #portraitsfornhsheroes, painting portraits of four key workers on the front line of the battle to halt the pandemic: a surgeon, a nurse, an oncologist and a social worker.

Olha’s watercolour portraits are filled with the energy and they are all unique. They were selected to be shown on giant screens in Oxford Street for project #makeitblue in support of the NHS.

Currently, Olha is passionate about a new project. She is drawing illustrations for a children's book by an English author. Her adventures and creative explorations continue.


 


Olha Baklan received an MA in art and costumes from the Academy of Fine Art, Lviv, Ukraine in 1988.

She worked as a theatre designer in Lviv’s Les Kurbus Theatre for about 20 years. Their productions were performed around the world and have taken prizes at numerous festivals.

https://kurbas.lviv.ua/en/about/les-kurbas

She is a member of several organizations:

IWA Ukraine

The National Union of Theatre Actors of Ukraine

The SAA in UK


Exhibitions in UK

The Chelsea Art Society 71st Annual Open Exhibition, London, 2018

Holland Park Art Exhibition, London, 2019

The Chelsea Art Society 72nd Annual Open Exhibition, London, 2019

The Society of East Anglian Watercolourists Selected Exhibition, 2020

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