Ukrainian painter Konstantyn Lyzogub was born and raised in Kharkiv, where he attended the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts. When the war broke out, lifelong painter Lyzogub immediately enlisted in the Ukrainian army as a way to protect his family and his home. He continues serving today, fighting for his country and his loved ones.

Lyzogub’s work exists at the intersection between realism and symbolism, as what he calls an “analysis of human existence.” The relationship between humans and society is crucial to Lyzogub. In Panda (2014), we see a man dejected by the role he plays in society, one that creeps up behind him and he cannot escape. In Game I and II (2017), human interaction is the essential force holding things together. One of Lyzogub’s primary focuses is the paradoxical human ability to create something beautiful and then destroy it - the clearest example of this, he says, is war.

A classically trained master painter, Lyzogub creates complicated textures through carefully layered oil paint and diverse techniques like aluminum leafing and applying heavy varnish.