14th March – 7th June

Three and a half years ago, Yana and her mother fled the Russian invasion of Ukraine, leaving their home in Odesa and settled in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight.

Originally from Odesa, Yana received her formal training at the Kostandi Art School and the Grekov Odesa State Art College. Painting has been part of her life since childhood, and oil remains her primary medium for its depth, flexibility and capacity for refined detail.

Over the years she has held numerous exhibitions in museums and galleries in Ukraine, Spain, London and on the Island. In 2025 she was a winner in the prestigious ‘UK Women in Art’ show at Roundhouse, London in 2025.

This exhibition holds special significance for Yana. During her first visit to Dimbola, encountering the photographs of Julia Margaret Cameron felt like a quiet dialogue across time. The mystical atmosphere and emotional depth of Cameron’s work resonate with Yana’s own search for inner presence and atmosphere. The light of Freshwater, the sea and the landscape of the Isle of Wight form an environment that feels both intimate and powerful.

The exhibition brings together several groups of Yana’s works created in England. Some respond directly to the Island and its surroundings. Others continue her long-standing practice of portraiture and figurative scenes drawn from personal life. The central body of work explores minerals, trees and flowers.

In recent years Yana has turned toward elemental forms — stone, roots, petals — as a way of seeking stability and harmony. Minerals inspire her through their structure and depth; old trees become symbols of endurance and grounding; flowers, often intertwined with female figures, suggest delicacy, vulnerability and inner strength.Through these works, she searches for balance, stillness and a sense of rootedness in an unsettled world.

yanabarabash.com