Ksenia Sandesko
- May 15
- 4 min read
Ksenia Sandesko is a Ukrainian painter based in Moscow. She studied at the Kharkiv State Academy and went on to contemporary art programs at the Moscow Museum of Contemporary Art. Her mother has an art education and used to draw female figures for her when she was small. She paints nudes in oil, mostly large, and has exhibited in Moscow, Bulgaria and Berlin. Her latest exhibition was called The Hand of the Feather.
Q: Tell us about yourself. How did painting begin for you?
A: I have been drawing since childhood. I remember how I would close myself in my room and spend hours coloring and inventing my own images. My mother has an art education, and she often showed me how to draw things—quite often these were female figures, princess-like characters.
I never really questioned my path; I always felt that I would become an artist. Of course, when the time came to apply to an academy, I briefly considered a more practical variation of this profession—such as design. But that hesitation was more rational than genuine—in the end, I returned to what mattered most to me: studying painting and developing within it.
Q: The bodies in your paintings never quite hold their shape. Where do those figures begin for you?
A: In fact, I arrived at this approach only recently. If you look at my earlier series, the forms there were much more defined and concrete. I think this, in many ways, reflected my inner state at the time.
Sometimes the human figure appears clearly, almost literally, and at other times it dissolves into the pictorial space, merging with its surroundings so that everything becomes a single whole.
When working with the body, I have never perceived it as purely physical. For me, it is a way of conveying an inner condition—the body as a оболочка, a vessel and a reflection of something that cannot be depicted directly.
Q: Colour does a lot in your paintings. How do you decide on a palette?
A: My color palette has evolved: now I experiment much more than before. In my earlier series, color worked graphically—a bright background with a few accent tones for figures.
In the new series "Inversions," I am in constant search and never know the final result; combinations become more complex during the process. The palette is light and spring-like: pinks, blues, lemon tones. I change it in each work because I quickly tire of repetition and try to invent a new visual language each time.
Q: You started with classical training in Kharkiv and later went through contemporary programmes in Moscow. What did that do to your painting?
A: My education has had a very strong influence on me. At the academy, we studied and admired the Russian painting tradition—especially Vrubel, Malyavin, and Serov. After graduating, I painted in a fairly academic manner for some time, although my own approaches were already emerging. It took me several years to enter the context of contemporary art; at the time, it felt like a different world where I didn't understand the rules.
In the academic system there were clear criteria of what was "good" and "bad," whereas in contemporary art you define these boundaries yourself. Studying in a contemporary art program helped me structure this experience and more clearly define the direction I want to move in.
Q: Your recent show was called The Hand of the Feather. What was behind that title?
A: The title of my latest exhibition, "The Hand of the Feather," is built on the combination of incompatible ideas. In Russian, it would sound slightly different and more natural, but in English it becomes more literal and slightly strange: "the hand" suggests control and agency, while "the feather" is a light, almost weightless tool that has no will of its own. The tension between these two ideas forms the title.
In my recent works I control the process much less: at times it feels as if it starts to lead me.
Painting becomes more intuitive and alive. I may hesitate for a long time before a brushstroke, and then make it without conscious decision.
The title is about this state—when the movement of the hand and the material begin to exist as a single process, almost independent from me.
Q: You've shown in Moscow, Bulgaria, Berlin. What's next?
A: At the moment I feel that I have many opportunities, and at the same time I am trying to understand what exactly I want. It is important for me to continue doing interesting exhibitions and projects abroad, to expand my practice and move beyond familiar boundaries. I want to experiment more, collaborate with different institutions and contexts, and explore and try myself in new conditions. For me, this is a period of both searching and expanding my practice.
