Daria Nagrebelna is a Ukrainian artist who is currently studying at Interlochen Arts Academy, Michigan. She is a multidisciplinary artist whose main medium is oil colors.She spent her childhood exploring art in Ukraine, then left for a boarding school in England when she was 15. She went to United States a year later and until now on she’s going to an art boarding school in Interlochen, Michigan.

My art explores human nature, its tragedy, individualistic power, and its fragility. I intend to create artwork as an accessible language, to share hidden stories, and humanize them.

In my portraits, I illustrate the powerful and inspiring individuals with whom I have had close relationships or who have had a significant impact on me. I am willing to give time for their eyes to be looked at and for their power and strength to be recognized. I open up the character through the exploration of intimacy and vulnerability. I want to humanize those whose stories have been misunderstood and misinterpreted by different social communities.

In my artwork, I find the confidence to be open, honest, and straightforward with my opinion about the failures and struggles we share as a society by sharing my personal experience and exposing my wounds to the audience.In my latest work, I explore my heritage and its impact on me. I talk about the war in Ukraine and how it changed my reality and shifted our social norms and values. I share my pain and feelings of guilt and hopelessness that I haven’t been able to get rid of but that I’m trying to accept and embrace instead.

Even though my art is personal, vulnerable, and controversial, I am still willing it to be accessible. I want my audience to feel connected and sympathetic toward the stories I tell, no matter what kind of background they are coming from and whether we share the same experiences or not. Our stories are unique, but the pain and emotions we all share about them are the same, and they bring us together, unite us, and make us stronger.

darianagrebelna.com

@dnopotolka