Zhenya Gershman’s Art Gives Strength To Ukrainians

Zhenya Gershman is an internationally renowned artist who uses her artistic talents to give strength to Ukrainians affected by the war. In her studio in Midtown, large portraits of human faces cover the walls Each person is different but their captivating eyes all tell the same story. They long to be seen.

Gershman has studios in both NYC and Los Angeles. She is best known for her artwork that features the faces of people whose stories are overlooked. Gershman is an artist, art historian, and art teacher. She finds thoughtful and caring ways to uplift people in every detail, shape, and color.

Gershman sees herself as an “artistic ICU nurse.” She said she uses her talent as an outlet for creating a greater sense of awareness and empathy for the tragedy that is happening in Russia’s war against Ukraine. She said, “art is intensive caring and helping those who have the biggest need.” Gershman sees art as a gift and not a political device. “It doesn’t mean something special about me. It means I was given something that has the power to give back.”

Gershman was born in the former USSR in 1991 and emigrated to the United States when she was 16 with her parents. Gershman’s grandfather is Mikhail Matusovsky and her great grandfather is Lev Matusovsky. Both of her relatives were famous writers and photographers from Ukraine.

Gershman said she likes to “feel with people.” Her paintings, she said, are a way to bridge the divide between her subjects and the public who may never actually encounter the person in real life, but can be moved by an image. Paintings can endure for many years. “I feel that I want to connect with my invisible viewer. You [can] paint for someone who is not even born yet, but it is to have that heart-to-heart connection.

She has done so many paintings that grew from the current war that she has entitled her Ukrainian collection, “Brushes over Bullets” It started in the early days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, which happened to be her own birthday, when she saw a photo of Elena Kurilo. She was a teacher who was injured by a Russian missile strike in the town of Chuguev.

Photographer Wolfgang Schwan captured the image which inspired Gershman to create her first painting in the series. She contacted Schwan directly. Heritage Auction House reached out to her and it has since been sold for over $100,000 with all proceeds going back to Ukrainian victims of the war.

As an “ICU artist,” Gershman revealed that she and Schwan were able to successfully help Kurilo get out of Ukraine to Poland. They were able to create separate funds for surgery to help Kurilo’s eyes which were injured during the Russian attack on Chuguev in 2022.

Gershman said, “she was in a dire situation and in need of surgery. She said that everything must go to Ukraine. She is an amazing person.” Gershman and her students helped raise separate funds for Kurilo. Gershman said she felt the look in Kurilo’s eyes was compelling.

Gershman and Kurilo are now friends. Kurilo is the head of Defense of State at a Ukrainian civic organization that provides free legal, psychological, and social assistance to Ukrainian war victims.

“Kurilo was an arts teacher in a kindergarten class. It was very difficult for her to survive. I’m so proud because she is working. She is rehabilitating children and soldiers of Ukraine who have suffered from the war.”

In the “Mariupol Diary,” eight-year-old Egor Kravstov, his mother Elena and his sister Veronica hid in a basement for weeks after a missile strike brought down the ceiling of their home and badly injured them all. This painting was created from photography by Evgeny Sosnovsky.

The Kravstovs had been in “isolation in a dark cellar hiding from the Russian siege in the town of Mariupol without water, food, or lights” Gershman said. She was inspired by a diary that a child named Egor Kravstov kept during the war. Journalist Sergie Loiko created a film called “Mariupol Diary” in which members of the family tell their story.

Gershman said that this painting was “made in a very traditional technique that’s called chiaroscuro.” This is a style that contrasts light and darkness. Gershman said, “the light is illuminating the face as the image comes forward because they sit in this primordial darkness. It looks like these people should be coming from the 1500s. That is the shocking part.”

Gershman said, “I watched as they manifested themselves. I was watching the painting itself. When painting the portrait of the family, she used paint that would not dry. Gershman sold the one that was dry. Gershman “stripped down the first one. I went back and repeated it in the archival way.”

This painting will be shown at the UCLA Hillel Dorotort Center on October 22nd, 2026. Gershman has included the Mariupol painting as part of a collection about seeing with compassion.

In her new exhibit, Gershman will look at her Ukrainian artwork through the lens of Da’at which means “Bearing Light.” She describes it as a “distinct way of seeing, one shaped by awareness, reflection, and renewal.” This exhibit is influenced by Jewish mysticism such as Kabbalah that Gershman hopes to use as a lens for “bringing what is hidden into view.”

Gershman unraveled a linen painting called “Ritual” of a young man with shaved hair before heading off to war in Ukraine. Gershman used a different Rembrandt material to get the feeling across that he was sad. The dry material was used to create a distinct feeling. The viewer feels as if they are staring him in the eyes.

Gershman is intentional with the scale and placement of her artwork. She said, “every canvas is basically as far as I reach in every direction. I usually hang the work lower than is generally prescribed in galleries and museums. I’m willing to work closer to the viewer. I want you to really feel like you are falling in “Alice in Wonderland.”

Gershman got up from her chair and walked over to her palette. She said, “oil paint is derived from natural materials and acts very much like a human being.” Gershman pressed her finger onto the dried oil paint and liquid leaked out of the center. She said, “this is my palette from a month ago when I left the studio. It is still gooey.” Gershman has expanded her series and made over $40,000 more by auctioning off additional portraits of Ukrainian war victims with the funds benefiting the victims.

Gershman created a portrait of Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky and how the war weighs on his him. Gershman has high hopes that the painting will be seen by Zelensky one day. She said, “we are hoping with a team of people to get it into Ukraine and present it to the president and have it as a gift for the Museum of War.”

Gershman is an art historian and an art educator at Zhenya’s Art Academy. Gershman said, “I believe that every person is full of incredible potential. My joy is opening up that ability that the person didn’t even realize is inside them.”

Gershman smiled and said, “we need our army to move the brushes. You can’t do it alone. The gift that is gifted to you, that is bigger than you.” It is Gershman’s greatest joy to give back.