First Exhibition in the UK: Merlina Arts Spring Exhibition, 2023

In March 2023, just six months after arriving in the UK with my children due to the war in Ukraine, I took part in my first exhibition here - the Spring Exhibition at Merlina Art Gallery.

The exhibition ran from 17 to 26 March 2023 and brought together artists working in painting, drawing, and mixed media. Fo

r me, it was an important first step into a new artistic environment - unfamiliar, cautious, but open.

About My Participation

By that time, I was working intensely. Painting became both a way to process displacement and a way to rebuild structure in everyday life.I created a significant number of new works, primarily in acrylic, and many of them were included in the exhibition.

Seeing my paintings on the gallery walls - in a new country, among artists I had only recently met - was a quiet but powerful moment. It marked the transition from survival to participation, from isolation to dialogue.

The works shown explored movement, inner states, resilience, and continuity — themes that naturally emerged during that period of change.

Why This Exhibition Matters

This exhibition was not about scale or prestige. It mattered because it was the beginning.

It was the first confirmation that my work could exist and be read beyond my previous context - that contemporary art, rooted in personal experience, could still communicate across language, culture, and circumstance.

From this point, my professional path in the UK began to take shape - through further exhibitions, community involvement, and sustained studio practice.