New Artists New Era
Dora Lybak
Dora (Daryna) Lybak was born in 1997 in Rivne, Ukraine, where she currently lives and works. She earned a Master’s degree in Fine and Decorative Arts, specialising in Artistic Textiles, from the Rivne State University of Humanities. Her academic training provided a solid understanding of composition, material, and visual language. For a period, she worked as an art history teacher at the Rivne State Children’s Art School, an experience that deepened her knowledge of artistic traditions before she decided to fully dedicate herself to her own creative path.
Since 2021, Lybak has been actively developing her artistic career, presenting her work in exhibitions both in Ukraine and internationally. Her practice centres
on painting and graphic work, where she explores themes connected to spirituality and the deeper questions of human existence.
Her work often reflects on ideas drawn from biblical thought, including grace, love, and the inner transformation of the individual. Rather than illustrating religious narratives directly, she approaches these themes through symbolism and atmosphere, reinterpreting traditional spiritual concepts within a contemporary visual language.
In her paintings, Lybak builds images through layers, subtle tonal shifts, and symbolic elements that invite contemplation. She avoids literal storytelling, preferring instead to create compositions that reveal their meaning gradually. This approach brings her work closer to the sensibility of Symbolism, where suggestion and emotional resonance play a central role.
For the artist, direct representation can simplify complex spiritual ideas. Through recognisable forms and carefully constructed imagery, she seeks to reveal something beyond the visible, opening a space where the viewer can reflect on the relationship between the earthly and the sacred.
Material experimentation also forms part of her practice. While oil painting remains the defining medium in her work, she frequently combines it with acrylic, spray paint, and glitter, building layered surfaces that enhance the visual and symbolic depth of her compositions.
Another important aspect of her work is the sense of quiet introspection that runs through many of her paintings. Her compositions often carry a contemplative atmosphere, where figures and forms appear suspended in moments of reflection. This subtle tension between presence and silence allows the viewer to approach the image slowly, discovering its emotional and symbolic layers over time.
Through this balance between tradition and personal exploration, Dora (Daryna) Lybak continues to develop a visual language that is both sensitive and reflective. Her paintings do not attempt to impose a fixed meaning; instead, they open a space for interpretation, where spirituality, symbolism, and human experience converge within a carefully constructed pictorial world.
Featured Highlight:
Dora (Daryna) Lybak (b. 1997, Rivne, Ukraine) is a visual artist whose work explores spirituality and fundamental questions of human existence through a contemporary symbolic language. Trained in Fine and Decorative Arts with a specialization in Artistic Textiles, she develops paintings and graphic works distinguished by subtle layering, contemplative atmospheres, and references to biblical concepts such as grace, love, and inner transformation. Her practice balances tradition with material experimentation, combining oil with acrylic, spray paint, and glitter to create layered surfaces rich in meaning that invite slow and personal reflection.
