Holding On (2025) by Oleksandra Serhiienko - subjektiv.art
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Oleksandra Serhiienko
Artist from Poland
Oleksandra Serhiienko was born in 1983 in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. In February 2022, due to Russia’s full-scale invasion, she evacuated to Poland with her children, where she has been living since. She earned a master's degree in physics and currently works as a cross-stitch pattern designer. In her artistic practice, Oleksandra prefers watercolor and a mix of watercolor and pencil. She is a member of the British Association of Botanical Artists (ABA) and has participated in exhibitions including Invisible Gardens (Taras Shevchenko National Museum, Kyiv, Ukraine, 2024), Blooming (Kaş, Turkey, 2025), Fragmentos Exhibition (São Paulo, Brazil, 2025), Identity (Boomer Gallery, London, UK, 2025), and Crop Diversity in Ukraine (as part of Botanical Art Worldwide 2025, National Museum of Natural History, Kyiv, Ukraine). Through the lens of botany, Oleksandra explores themes of her own identity as a person, a woman, and a refugee.
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"Holding On" is a watercolor metaphor of resilience, faith, and the will to live. A withered leaf clinging to intertwined twigs, and a ladybug climbing upward, symbolize persistence and strength — even when everything around stands still, waiting for the long winter to pass. This work reflects the emotional state of Ukrainians who, despite pain, loss, and Russia's ongoing attempt to erase them, hold on to life, to one another, and continue their path through the darkness of war.
Oleksandra Serhiienko was born in 1983 in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. In February 2022, due to Russia’s full-scale invasion, she evacuated to Poland with her children, where she has been living since. She earned a master's degree in physics and currently works as a cross-stitch pattern designer. In her artistic practice, Oleksandra prefers watercolor and a mix of watercolor and pencil. She is a member of the British Association of Botanical Artists (ABA) and has participated in exhibitions including Invisible Gardens (Taras Shevchenko National Museum, Kyiv, Ukraine, 2024), Blooming (Kaş, Turkey, 2025), Fragmentos Exhibition (São Paulo, Brazil, 2025), Identity (Boomer Gallery, London, UK, 2025), and Crop Diversity in Ukraine (as part of Botanical Art Worldwide 2025, National Museum of Natural History, Kyiv, Ukraine). Through the lens of botany, Oleksandra explores themes of her own identity as a person, a woman, and a refugee.
