Apr-Jun 2023

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.

Polina graduated from NAOMA, the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture, Department of Graphic Arts with a Master’s degree. She is 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 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. To view some of her drawings and designs — including book illustrations, visual identity and cover designs, pictorial games, and her autonomous work — see her behance.net page (https://www.behance.net/PolinaDoroshenko).

After Polina left Ukraine she has tried to continue her professional practice from her temporary places of stay. She has managed to complete her work on a soon-to-bepublished book: The Story of Ukraine: An Anthem of Glory and Freedom. The illustrations of the book (in English and Ukrainian) were designed and drawn by Polina, accompanying the writing of her fellow Ukrainian writer Olena Kharchenko and the well-known American writer of young children’s books Michael Sampson. The book walks readers through each culturally-significant line of the once-forbidden anthem of Ukrainian — to present an inspiring view of the Ukrainian people, land and life. In her current place of refuge, Barcelona, she has given Master Classes for children (local and Ukrainian) at the National Art Museum of Catalunya.

Polina Doroshenko’s illustrations were awarded the White Ravens Award of the Munich based Internationale Jugendbibliothek (the largest library for international children’s and youth literature in the world).This year she was selected for the Winner’s Exhibition at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in Italy.