Tayisiya Shovgelia is a figurative painter from Ukraine, now living and working in London. Her art is shaped by lived experiences of war, displacement, and a profound commitment to fostering genuine human connection.
Before relocating to London, she worked as a photography editor at Cosmopolitan UA and taught visual arts in Kyiv. She went on to study under the late Judith Tucker at the University of Leeds, earning both a BA in Art & Design and an MA in Fashion, Enterprise & Society—an education that deeply influenced her creative direction.
A defining moment in her career came with a live-painting performance at Rich Mix in collaboration with the jazz-electronic band Respair. This experience inspired a shift toward a more experimental, interdisciplinary approach, integrating live performance, painting, and collaborative projects.
Today, her work seeks to evoke emotion and connection—whether through the glow of light, the rhythm of poetry, or the subtle trace of a fingerprint left hidden in the shadows.
Artist Statement
Since I was born, my mother told me I was sent into this world to save our family. As romantic as that might sound, it is a heavy role to inherit from childhood. I write this statement as someone recovering from a decade of living with an anxiety disorder, as a refugee whose home country was invaded by russia, as a woman who has survived sexual assault, and as a soul determined to keep creating, dreaming, and letting my imagination remain free.
My art career in London began as a therapeutic response to trauma. In the act of painting, I found a way to process the weight of war, loss, and displacement—turning moments of pain into something tangible, honest, and alive. Over time, my work evolved beyond my own healing. Now, it carries a sense of hope—a light that glows through everything that once hurt us.
Today, my practice is about creating safe spaces for others to feel and process their own experiences, whether by encountering one of my paintings in a gallery or witnessing the immediacy of a live-painting performance. I want my work to be a quiet place where emotions are not judged or explained away, but allowed to exist—seen, felt, and honoured.
Each brushstroke is a step toward safety, connection, and the possibility of joy. Sometimes that feeling emerges in the glow of light across a canvas, sometimes in the rhythm of colour and movement, and sometimes in the quiet intimacy of a fingerprint left hidden in the shadows.
