Olia Koval

Olia Koval (b. 2001, Chernihiv, Ukraine) is a Ukrainian lens-based artist working with conceptual photography, video and installation.  She holds a BA in Cinematography from Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University (2024) and studied at the Ukrainian School of Conceptual Photography MYPH (2019–2020). Her work has been presented in exhibitions and festivals in Ukraine and internationally, including at Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Hangar in Brussels and FOTODOK in Utrecht. She has participated in international residencies in Lithuania, Germany and France and is a member of the Futures Photography Platform. 
Koval has received several grants and awards, including the Lithuanian Council of Culture grant (2022), WarArchive Grant (2023) and Documenting Ukraine Grant, Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) (2023/2024). She was a winner of Fresh Eyes 2023 in the conceptual photography category and has been shortlisted for the International Women in Photo Association and C/O Berlin Talent Award. Her works are held in the collections of the Odesa National Fine Art Museum and the Kharkiv Museum of Photography (MOKSOP).

/ ARTIST STATEMENT

I am a Ukrainian lens-based artist from Chernihiv, working with photography, installation and video. I began my photographic practice in 2019. In my work, I combine analogue photography with handmade objects, using a pseudo-documentary approach to construct narratives. The full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 shifted my focus towards internal processes and lived experiences connected to life during wartime. This shift is reflected in a series of installations engaging with private space, including Stone, Memory Error and Eruption.
Currently, I am working on the theme of the beauty industry in Ukraine, documenting its different phenomena—from modelling schools for young girls to the culture of cosmetic fillers. The central question of this project is: what is conventional beauty, and what are the mechanisms through which it is constructed?

/ IN RESIDENCE

This residency will allow me to engage in a focused and thoughtful analysis of my archive while dedicating time to the development of two of my current projects: the audiovisual work You Can Eat What You Can Eat and the photographic project Sleeping Beauty, which explores the beauty industry in Ukraine. Filming for You Can Eat What You Can Eat was completed in early May 2026. The residency will provide me with the time and space to focus on editing and post-production. The work was created in collaboration with the Ukrainian musician Albert Tsukrenko.
In my other project, Sleeping Beauty, I work with different types of portraiture—from women who have undergone lip augmentation with fillers to young girls attending provincial modelling agencies. Through these images, I seek to create a broader context for understanding how femininity and beauty are constructed and represented.
On the one hand, it is important for me to continue working within the Ukrainian context—to remain here and keep finding new participants for the project. On the other hand, I plan to expand the series by introducing still lifes, which will allow me to reflect more deeply on the subject matter and bring greater visual and conceptual coherence to the project.