About the author Anastasiia Kurkova (22.10.2000) (Nickname - Stia) I am a Ukrainian artist. I was born in the city of Mariupol - the homeland of the artist A. Kuindzhi in the warm steppe region, in the eastern part of Ukraine. I started working with oils at the age of 13, at 14 I began to participate in various exhibitions, in particular those held at the Mariupol Kuindzhi Center of Contemporary Art and Culture in 2014 and later. I was a laureate of various city and regional art competitions in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. In 2017, one of my works was sent to Japan to the Charitable Center "Help for the Children of the World". In 2019, I took part in an exhibition organized by NAFAA (National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture, Kyiv, Ukraine). In addition, on September 2, 2020, my first solo exhibition "Color of the Soul" opened at the State Library of Ukraine for Youth (Kyiv, Ukraine). In October 2020, another solo exhibition "Colorful Rhapsody" was held at the Taras Shevchenko House-Museum in Kyiv, Ukraine. In 2021, I became one of the laureates of the International Plein Air Art Competition "Best Artist" and received the award "For Merits to Art". In the same year, I also took part in several exhibitions - "St. Sophia Plein Air 2021", "150. Lesya Ukrainka's anniversary" at NAFAA. In 2022, I became a participant and laureate of the Grand Prix of all-Ukrainian and international art competitions, including - "Christmas Ukraine", "National Talent Parade", "Etude Vernissage", "Hands of Happiness", etc. I am the organizer and leading artist of the art project "Kyivska Rus Park", Kyiv, Ukraine. I worked as an animator in the film "Peasants", created by the film company || "Breakthru Film", based on the novel of the same name by the Nobel Prize winner V. Raymont. Currently, I actively promote mutual Ukrainian-Polish cultural relations in my works. In the summer of 2023, I was on a plein air in Switzerland. Now I work at the "Contact" art academy in Krakow. My works are in private collections in Ukraine, USA, UK, Japan, Germany and Poland. They are also exhibited in "Galeria Ogrodowa", "Art Bay", Krakow and various online galleries. In 2024 there was an exhibition in Warsaw in "Pragaleria".