Alina Hrubets

Alina Hrubets is a young Ukrainian artist who lives and works in Lviv. She was born on July 3, 1997 in Lutsk. The development of her creative expression began during her studies at the Lutsk Art School. She furthered her professional education at the Lviv National Academy of Arts. Currently, her artistic practice is focused on exploring sacred art, mainly icons and paintings on Christian themes. Her main references are the ancient Ukrainian icon painting tradition and the work of Ukrainian modernist artists who reinterpreted Byzantine stylization. They served as an inspiration for the artist to continue the tradition of icon as a spiritual and cultural value, giving it a contemporary interpretation. In addition to the visual aspect, the artist emphasizes the symbolic richness of icons, the captivating process of interpreting symbols and allegories. The author strives for contemporary Ukrainian sacred art to become a subject of interest for a wider audience, as a means of conveying spiritual human values.

In her work, Alina uses techniques of old masters, such as a specially prepared wooden board as a base and she prepares the gesso herself, works with egg tempera, but currently prefers acrylic and experiments with mixed techniques. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, she has been in Ukraine. Reflection on the theme of war is reflected in the color palette of her works, dominated by shades of black, gray, and red. Alina has participated in many group exhibitions, charity auctions, and has been a resident at several international icon painting workshops. Her works are in private collections in countries such as Germany, Poland, Italy, USA and Australia.

One of the most important projects she has recently completed is the polychrome of the dome space of the wooden church "Ascension of the Lord" in the Lemko village of Gladyszow in Poland. For Alina, as a co-author of the project, this was her first independent monumental work to organically complement the historical shrine of 1939 with innovative sacred paintings.