Meet our current residents, Polina Doroshenko & Stefaniia Dobrianska. They will work in the airWG studio till the end of June 2023. 

Polina lived in Kyiv prior to the war, working as a book illustrator and graphic arts teacher. In March 2022, Polina with her four-year-old daughter Stefaniia had to flee their home and made their way to Barcelona, where they found temporary shelter with friends.

During her airWG residency Polina intends to create a zine based on drawings from her sketchbooks which she began after they left Ukraine. Polina considers the graphic diary as a first-hand format to visualise her thoughts, ideas and anxieties. She says: “I did fast and naive sketches about our everyday life abroad and when I focused on a moment, my anxiety felt less. This diary is my creative tool of struggle. Stefaniia told me that she was inspired, and that she likes to have her own corner to organise an exhibition for young visitors."

Polina graduated from NAOMA, the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture, Department of Graphic Arts with a Master’s degree. She has been a tutor in graphic design at NAOMA since 2019. Over the last eight years she has developed her practice in art & design, becoming a successful illustrator and a graphic artist, especially for children’s books. In her work, Polina prefers to mix techniques and experiments with materials and has illustrated more than 10 books, three of which were awarded international prizes.

Polina & Stefaniia’s WG residency is supported by Dutch Fund for Ukrainian artists, Mondriaan Fund, airWG and Artists at Risk.