Alyona Krutogolova

Alyona Krutogolova is a contemporary Ukrainian painter based in Kyiv.

She creates her own artistic language based on simplified forms, deliberate decorativeness, and an ironic worldview. 

In her work, she synthesizes the traditions of Ukrainian folk art and elements of naive art with a modern artistic eye, expanding the boundaries of her personal creative space and populating it with cute and colorful characters - pet hedgehogs, dreamy floral cats, wandering sea cows, harvest hens, and spotted owls.

We cannot help but notice the original author's technique, rich palette, and bright, airy colors, which evoke a real sense of warmth.  It is a wonderful world that both adults and children immediately fall in love with.  She states,

"It is difficult to blame the universe for its imperfection when a pretzel, a cup of tea, or a bouquet of daisies are all balancing on your head at that very moment.

Life is joy (every time we inhale, and especially every time we exhale)!

And that’s why we need to live every moment carefully and attentively, just like children when they eat cake, with reverence and while slightly protecting the plate with their hand, because... you never know. :)"

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Alyona decided to stay in Kyiv. Creating radical joy became her personal act of resistance. In a landscape of daily destruction in Kyiv, often without heat and electricity, choosing to paint bright, harmonious colors is a refusal to let the darkness dominate her mind or the identity of Ukrainian culture.

Selected Exhibitions:

• 2023 — Art House SF, solo exhibit. San Francisco, USA
• 2024 — Art House SF, solo exhibit, "Spirit Animals". San Francisco, USA
• 2025 — Art House SF, solo exhibit, "Art Therapy". San Francisco, USA
• 2026 — Art House SF, solo exhibit, "An Island of Happiness". San Francisco, USA

Private and Public Collections:

Her paintings have found homes with collectors worldwide — across some twenty-six U.S. states and in the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, North Africa, South Africa, Spain, and Colombia.