Artworks by Olesia Miftahova

My name is Olesia Miftahova. I am a Ukrainian artist based in Wales, United Kingdom, where I maintain a full-time studio practice. My work explores how time transforms memory. The experience of living between cultures during a period of war and migration has become an important part of my creative journey. Drawing on biblical imagery alongside Celtic, Slavic, and Welsh mythology, I revisit old forms and consider how they can acquire new meanings while remaining connected to the past. In my work, I often return to the female figure as a carrier of stories and memory. The Blue Goddess is a personal character I created, the central figure of my visual narratives. She brings together my own experience, the women who have inspired me and influenced my perception, female figures from the past and present, as well as motifs drawn from different mythologies. Working primarily with acrylic, I am drawn to its flexibility and immediacy — qualities that reflect the experience of living through constant change. My work has been exhibited internationally. Recent highlights include two solo exhibitions in Wales in 2025: Garden of Memory and Garden of Memories: Growing Beyond, as well as participation in group exhibitions at the Taras Shevchenko National Museum in Kyiv, the Odesa Museum of Western and Eastern Art, POSK Gallery in London, Goethe-Institut Athen in Greece, Lavra Gallery in Kyiv as part of Art Kyiv 2026: This is Normal, and the International Art Biennale 2026 in the Philippines.