Vira Ustianska is a Ukrainian artist and art teacher. She was born in Zaporizhzhia in 1988. From 1996 to 2000, she studied fine arts at the children’s studio of the Shevchenko district. From 2000 to 2004, she attended the Zaporizhzhia Children’s Art School. From 2006 to 2009, she studied at Zaporizhzhia Art College, majoring in Design. She began participating in exhibition activities and plein air events in 2008.

She received her higher art education at the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts, where she studied easel painting in the portrait workshop under the guidance of Prof. Chaus V.N. and Prof. Ganotsky V.L. (2009–2015).

Since 2012, she has been working on a series of industrial landscapes. In 2014, she painted at the Electro Metallurgical Plant “Dneprospetsstal,” where she created more than 20 oil sketches in the hot workshop. Based on this experience, she completed her bachelor’s diploma painting “Portrait of a Steelworker” (140 × 175 cm), which received the Painting Department Award. The work is now part of the collection of the Dneprospetsstal Plant Museum, in the “Recent History of the Plant” hall.

During her studies, she also painted in the village of Konceba in the Odessa region. Her second diploma work, “Warm Memories,” is devoted to the theme of family, using sketches created in the village. In 2015, she graduated from the Kharkiv State Academy with honors and returned to her hometown.

In 2016, she became one of the founders of a Drawing Studio established by the Zaporizhzhia branch of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, aimed at developing the portrait genre. In 2017, she opened her painting studio “V-ART.” From 2018 to 2019, she worked at the Zaporizhzhia Electrical Engineering College as a teacher of painting, drawing, composition, color science, and other design disciplines.

Since 2017, she has participated in international plein air events in Poland and Lithuania. In 2020, she took part in an online anti-virus exhibition in Wuhan. During the same year, she began working on the project “Sunflowers by Vira Ustianska.” Later that year, she presented a series of sunflower paintings at an exhibition at the National Museum of Art in Zaporizhzhia. In 2021, she participated in the international plein air “The Best Artist,” where she received the medal “For Artistic Achievement.”

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In 2022, together with her daughter, she evacuated to Poland. There, she participated in exhibitions in the cities of Mielec and Rzeszów, as well as in exhibitions and auctions in Warsaw, London, and Slovakia. Together with her 7-year-old daughter Vasylisa, she took part in the international plein air “Łańcut 2022.” Over the course of six months, with the support of the American School in Warsaw and the Wozniak family, she created more than 100 paintings known as the “Polish period.”

On August 24, 2022, Vira Ustianska, together with her daughter Vasylisa Tkach, arrived in the United States, where she continued to create new works. During her first months, she taught painting at the Ukrainian School in San Diego. She has since focused primarily on developing new series of artwork.

Inspired by the nature of California, she began a large series of local landscapes, including mountains, lakes, seascapes, boats, landmarks, and cityscapes. Despite her deep appreciation for her new surroundings, her connection to Ukraine remains central to her work. This is reflected in her ongoing project “1000 Sunflowers,” which explores memory, identity, and history. To date, she has created nearly 200 sunflower paintings, each telling a unique story of the present that, over time, contributes to a larger historical narrative.

Her work combines a refined sense of color with expressive brushwork, creating a balance between realism and impressionism. She continues to explore traditional still life, which remains one of her primary genres.

Her compositions often convey fleeting emotions—joy, light, and nostalgia—inviting the viewer to reconnect with simple, meaningful moments. Floral still lifes capture the beauty of passing time, transforming everyday objects into poetic reflections. As the artist notes: “A simple vase in the rays of the setting sun is more precious to me than all earthly blessings, because it reminds me of warm evenings spent with my family, in those days when there was no war yet.”

Today, through her work, she seeks to preserve memories that might otherwise dissolve in the noise of modern life.

Miniature paintings are another important direction in her practice. Inspired by European realist traditions, she creates highly detailed works that are vibrant and expressive. Her still lifes vary greatly—each painting carries its own mood, emotion, and purpose.

She works confidently across multiple genres and actively participates in exhibitions, conducts plein air demonstrations, and accepts commissioned work. In her commissions, she remains faithful to the classical traditions of oil painting, creating meaningful and refined works for each client.

In the United States, she continues to study art through museums, books, and observation of nature. Animal portraiture, once a more illustrative genre for her, has now evolved into a more expressive and refined direction.

For over 11 years, she has also been working on an important long-term series—portraits of her daughter Vasylisa—creating a new portrait each year to document the stages of her growth. For the artist, portraiture remains a deeply personal genre, a form of internal dialogue with loved ones.

Over the past four years in the United States, Vira has participated in over 45 exhibitions, including juried shows, museum-affiliated exhibitions, and major art events throughout California and beyond. Her work has been presented in a wide range of venues, reflecting both a consistent exhibition practice and growing recognition within the American art community.

Among her notable projects is a solo exhibition at Union Hall Gallery, where she not only presented her work but also engaged with the public through a live demonstration on composition and a lecture on Ukrainian Impressionism—an important part of her artistic and educational mission.

Vira is an active member of several professional art organizations, including the National Union of Artists of Ukraine (since 2013), the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild (where she serves as a board member), the American Impressionist Society, the California Art Club, Oil Painters of America, the East County Art Association, and the Kensington-Talmadge Business Association.

Vira has received over 17 awards and recognitions in the United States and internationally. Among them are First Place in the Plein Air Contest and multiple First Place awards at the San Diego County Fair (including Pet Portrait and Oil Representational categories), Second Place at the Viva Art Juried Exhibition and the Big Bear Plein Air Festival, Third Place at the Olaf Wieghorst Museum’s Mary Jane Parkinson Legacy Exhibition, as well as the Award of Excellence at the 26th Annual National Juried Exhibition of the American Impressionist Society. Her work has also been recognized with multiple Honorable Mentions and Top Finalist placements at PleinAir Salon competitions, along with distinctions from the Oceanside Museum Plein Air Festival and other juried exhibitions.

Vira conducts plein air demonstrations and actively participates in paint-outs with CAC and San Diego Plein Air groups since 2024. In 2025, she began teaching painting and attending live model sessions at SDSU and private studios. Since 2026, she has been leading thematic workshops, sharing the nuances and techniques of Eastern European painting traditions.

In 2026, Vira Ustianska was selected as a Fellow of the Ilan-Lael Foundation’s Visiting Artist Program, recognizing the quality of her work and its alignment with the artistic values of James Hubbell. As part of this program, she joined a select group of artists invited to create a new body of work inspired by the Ilan-Lael environment, while also engaging with the community through educational programming and contributing to the enrichment of the local art scene.