Yana Dubinina (Dyana) is a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine and a graduate of the Mykhailo Boychuk Kyiv State Academy of Decorative and Applied Arts and Design (Department of Monumental and Decorative Art). Her works have been exhibited in Kyiv, New York, Taipei, Brussels, Antwerp, Madrid, Paris, Lucerne and Zurich, and in 2026 at Kunsthaus Weiz in Austria. Today her studio and permanent exhibition are in Küsnacht near Zurich, at the Showroom39 space.
Yana, let's start at the beginning. How did art come into your life?
Art has inspired me since childhood. I was born in Prague in 1979. Although my first degree was in business and finance (I earned it in 2002), painting was always my passion, and from 2005 I began working in my own studio.
Over time I realised I wanted to master the craft more deeply, so I enrolled in the Department of Monumental and Decorative Art at the Boychuk Academy. I graduated in 2019, already as a practising artist.
Why monumental art in particular?
Volume, large forms and colour are what set my paintings apart. I feel cramped in a small format. Even when I make a series of small works, I always leave the client the option of combining them into a large panel. The monumental school taught me to think about space: a painting is not only a canvas, but also the wall, the room, the atmosphere around it.
You say you think in colours. What does that mean in practice?
When I see people or beautiful places, I see them as bright patches of colour. I have a very good visual memory, and it helps me look for new techniques. My main goal in every project is to offer a chance to look at familiar things from a completely different angle. To find true beauty in ordinary objects, events and moments — or in those that exist only in the imagination.
Your style has changed noticeably over time. How would you describe that path?
Just as a person changes over a lifetime, so did my style — from pop art to something very close to Art Deco. There were abstractions, figurative painting, decorative series. Today I am moving towards my own language: monumental female figures in an ornamental, decorative setting. The closest to it is my large-format series Cocktail.
Who has influenced you as an artist?
I am grateful to Gustav Klimt for ornament and gold, and to Modigliani for line and the elongated, noble figure. Among contemporary artists I feel close to Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald — for the way they combine portraiture with a decorative background and endow a person with dignity. And Flora Yukhnovich — for the boldness with which she reinterprets Rococo today.
What are you working on now?
A new series, “One-Actress Troupe” (Dramatis Personae). These are monumental portraits of my close friends, each depicted in archetypal “roles” — in diptychs and triptychs that show several true faces of one person. The visual language is theatrical: arches, staircases, saturated colour. Technically it is oil painting on wooden panels, and the background is glossy alkyd enamel that I pour around the figures using masking. I am interested in how one woman can be at once the heroine, the muse and the director of her own life.
Besides painting, you create murals, painted clothing, bags, furniture and even humidors. Why should an artist go beyond the canvas?
I want art to be part of life, not just hang on a wall. That is why I paint streets, clothing, bags, furniture, steel surfaces — things that accompany a person every day. For five years now I have specialised in painting humidors — it is an intimate, very personal art for collectors. Each such object is a separate story created for a specific person.
What does your working day in the studio look like?
My studio is my own world, with its own air and mood. Lots of light, music to suit the mood, sometimes podcasts or romantic films in the background. I change into work clothes and begin, and during breaks I drink tea. I bring the idea into the studio already formed: the technique may change along the way, but the idea stays. And I am convinced: the more I myself enjoy the process and the result, the more interesting I am to others.
In 2022 you moved to Zurich. What changed for you as an artist?
Since March 2022 I have lived in Zurich, and my studio is in Küsnacht, at Showroom39, which also houses a permanent exhibition of my works. Switzerland has given me a new audience, new exhibitions — Fame Gallery, Wasserkirche, art3f, Art de Suisse — and new collectors. But my roots remain in Kyiv: I am a Ukrainian artist, and you can feel it in every one of my works.
I love Ukraine and support it with all my heart. I am constantly in touch, I follow all the people who interest me and, of course, I miss it terribly. Here in Switzerland I am creating my own Ukrainian world and bringing our aesthetics and creativity into it. And I am sure that in peacetime we will have plenty to talk about.
What would you advise someone buying an original work for the first time?
Buy with your heart, not with an investor's eyes. A painting should evoke emotion every day as you walk past it. And don't be afraid of scale: a large work changes the space and mood of a room in a way no decor can. And if you have doubts, talk to the artist. We are always happy to tell the story of a work.
Quick-fire round.
• If you weren't an artist, you would be: - an actress, colouring life with different roles.
• Where you can be found outside the studio: - travelling, in museums, over a glass of good wine.
• Three words about your art: - colour, volume, depth.
What are your plans for the future?
To finish “One-Actress Troupe” and show it as a complete project. Then to keep developing my language of the monumental female figure in ornament — and, of course, more large formats.
Besides being an artist, you are also a businesswoman and philanthropist, and a partner in the Codeky project, which supports young artists. A competition for students of various art disciplines has appeared on your platform.
- Yes, my partners and I are now actively working on creating new areas within our online marketplace, including a charitable area and a competition for young artists. We hope that our experience and the capabilities of our online platform will help young people feel more confident in the art market and, with our involvement, present their art to the world more actively!