Olena Kurzel

Olena Kurzel (b. 2000) was born in Yuzhnoukrainsk, Ukraine. She is a multidisciplinary artist working with painting, embroidery, sculpture, video, photography, and installation. Since 2025, she has been based in Prague, Czech Republic.

She works primarily with images of landscapes and interiors inhabited by strange, fragile creatures. Her practice turns to the contemplation of nature, war-torn environments, and the textures of stones and branches, exploring how nature gradually reclaims urban space. In her projects, she constructs new places and entities that appear to heal the wounds of history, creating spaces shaped by post-human presences.

Residency dates: 01.02. – 31.05.2026

RESIDENCY PROJECT

During the residency, she would like to continue developing her ongoing project dedicated to the themes of ecocide and post-humanity. She is interested in how nature absorbs and transforms everything created by humans — how it restores itself, imitates, and evolves into new forms of life. The project will consist of sculptures and possibly installations and multimedia elements. She plans to work with papier-mache and painting, using recycled paper and found materials.

EDUCATION

2023    National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture, Kyiv (UA)

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2025    Meaning after loss, Ukrainian House, Kyiv (UA)

2024     DIA Kinets, ZIEGEL Gallery, Graz (AT)

2023    What does water dream about?, Asortymentna kimnata. Ivano-Frankivsk (UA)

2023    The periphery of peace, DIM Gallery, Warsaw (PL) 

2023    When storms reveal silence, Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlin (DE)

2023    Merging the versions: Unveiling traces, in cooperation with Kollektiv Zirkusgasse and Office Ukraine, Vienna (AT)

2023    Between you and us: an attempt at translation, Open Space, Chemnitz (DE) 

2023    Forms of presence, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv (UA)