Biography
Alena Olasyuk is a Ukrainian artist based in Paris, after twelve years in Beijing and time in Vienna. She studied Art and Journalism at the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology and debuted her first solo exhibition, Three Steps, in 2014. Since then, her work has been shown internationally in China, Taiwan, Ukraine, France, and at the Curitiba Biennale in Brazil (2017). Recent highlights include two solo exhibitions in Taiwan (2020, 2021) and Ode to Lines at HD Galerie, Paris (2024).
Her practice centers on the line — obsessive, repetitive, and diaristic. What began in Beijing with Chinese ink and a Soviet nib pen has developed into a long-term investigation of time, memory, war, and belonging. While drawing remains central, Olasyuk expands this language into canvas, rice paper, embroidery, woodcut, resin, photography, and limited-edition zines. She also creates guided meditations connected to her works, transforming exhibitions into spaces of reflection and stillness, where art becomes both visual and experiential.
Positioned in dialogue with Agnes Martin, Pierre Soulages, and François Morellet, her work insists on its diaristic and lived dimension. Each series is less an isolated project than a continuation of an ongoing record, where repetition becomes a method of transformation.
Alongside her studio practice, Olasyuk has been invited as a scholar-artist at the USC–SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry (Shanghai), and has held residencies at Planta Alta and CRA Matadero in Madrid. She has collaborated with international brands including Peugeot and Vogue TV China, and regularly writes on creativity, zines, and the structures of the art market.
Statemnet
In my work, I explore the dualities of life — the simplicity of basics and their hidden complexity. Just as existence can be both banal and profound, my practice draws directly from life itself. Using Chinese ink and a range of additional materials, I investigate repetition — controlled and uncontrolled, intentional and spontaneous-as a way to reflect on being.
My aim is not to illustrate truth or influence but to distill the essence of existence. Lines become my language: obsessive yet fragile, systematic yet intimate. Each one is a diary entry, a record of persistence, memory, and change.
For over a decade, I have treated art as both research and ritual. A daily, meditative act, it grounds me while evolving through time, cities, and circumstances. From Ukraine to Beijing, Vienna, and now Paris, this journey — shaped by displacement, war, and transformation — continues to add new dimensions to my exploration of dualities.
Through drawing, layering, and expanding into other media — embroidery, photography, woodcut, resin, zines, and meditations — I create spaces for quiet reflection. These works do not demand attention; they invite it. They ask the viewer to linger, to see repetition not as sameness but as gradual transformation, where the simplest line can hold both stillness and change.
Solo exhibitions:
2025: “The Breath” Zeto art gallery, Paris, France
2024: “Ode to Lines” HD galerie. Paris, France
2024: “Confluence” MSPACE. Paris, France
2021: “Chiseling the Light with Ink” Taipei, Taiwan
2020: “In Between” Galerie Grand Siecle, Taipei, Taiwan
2016: " Межа/грань/border" Khmelnitsky Region Art Museum. Ukraine
2016: «Ink Mark» JuEr space. Beijing, China
2015: "Complex Simplicity" auto studio. Beijing, China
2015: “The Calling” at DARA gallery. Beijing, China
2014: "Monochrome World" Kogo art gallery, Hangzhou, China
2014: "Three Steps" BIFT park, Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology. Beijing, China
Two/Three-Person Exhibition:
2018: “Inversion” Clerkenwell Space, Beijing, China
2018: “Ritual” Sky Moca Gallery. Beijing
2016: "Sinergia" Sky Art Foundation, Kyiv. Ukraine.
Selected group exhibitions:
2021: “Linear” JH Gallery. Shanghai, China.
2021: “Unknown Reality” Baolong Art Center, organized by Shanghai Jiaotong University and ICCI Art Valley, Shanghai, China
2021: “Linear” Longkong Art Museum. Beijing, China.
2020: “Return to the forest” Dongyan Mountain Forest Recreational Area. Taoyuan City, Taiwan.
2019: “Without Ink” Art Tianjin Contemporary Ink Exhibition, Tianjin
2019: “A Piece of cotton paper” JiuCeng Art Museum, Beijing
2019: “Reconstruction” Aotu space, Beijing
2019: “Grey silence” Tong Gallery, Beijing
2018: “Investigation” Klerkenwell Space, Beijing
2018: “Ritual” Skymoka Gallery, Beijing
2018: “Spring Luster” Skymoka Gallery, Beijing
2017: Curitiba Biennale ’17 «Vibration» Chinese contemporary art exhibition. Curitiba, Brazil
2017: "Non-objective image" OCT space of Manufacturing Cultural. Shenzhen
2017: "Investigation" Cheng Gallery. Beijing
2016: "Art Actually" 11Gallery. Beijing
2016: “The Six Jinan International Photography Exhibition” Jinan
2016: Group exhibition «Fire Wall» No Gate Gallery. Beijing
2016: «A Great Event is in the Making. But No One Has Noticed» at Intelligentsia gallery. Beijing
2015: Group exhibition of Ukrainian and Kyrgyzstan artists, at Sharpen Studio. Beijing
2015: «The Collisions inside the Secret Garden at the Museum of Innocence» Workjam coworking space. Beijing
2014: "Semiotic preoccupations: objects, signs and symbols" Intelligentsia gallery. Beijing
In collection:
Shanghai Jiaotong University
Sky Art Foundation (Kyiv, Ukraine)
11Gallery (Beijing, China)
Cheng Center for Contemporary Art (Beijing, China)
Works held in private collections around China, Taiwan, Ukraine, France, the UK, Italy, the USA, etc.
Art Fairs:
2020: Any Future - Emerging Artists Fair in Taipei
2020: Art Kaoshiung, Taipei
Residency/ Programs:
2025: Residency at Saline Royale at Arc-et-Senans, France
2022: Residency at Planta Alta and CRA Matadero (Madrid) with the support of Artists at Risk and TEJA.
2021: Visiting Artist at ART VALLEY PROGRAM, The USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry(ICCI), ( a joint institute between the University of Southern California (USC) and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) )
Contact
email: a.olasyuk@icloud.com
wechat: olasyuk_a