Nastia Svoboda

Nastia Svoboda was born in 1990 in Kamianske, Ukraine. From 2007 to 2009 she studied academic painting at the Theatre and Art College in Dnipro. In 2014 she received a Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design from the Mykhailo Boichuk Institute in Kyiv.

Painting and graphic design together shaped her early practice, which brings together elements of poster art and dark surrealism. Throughout her work she has kept a strong interest in metaphor, symbolism and ancient archetypes.

Her first solo exhibition, "9 Commandments of Freedom", was held in Berlin. The project grew out of two years she spent in prison in Georgia. Nine pencil drawings and nine handwritten texts were created during her time in prison.

In her later work her artistic language has become more vivid, with stark realist imagery built on its surrealist foundation. Symbols and metaphors remain central to her visual language.

Svoboda is a co-founder of the creative organisation Plemya Art. For the project she organised and curated "A Gaze through Reality", a group exhibition of surrealist artists. She lives in Kyiv and runs an art-focused blog.