Janina Myronova

Janina Myronova is a Ukrainian/Polish based artist who is a Resident Artist at the Clay Studio in Philadelphia, PA. Trained as a painter, designer, and sculptor, Myronova holds two master’s degrees in Sculpture and Ceramics & Design, and a PhD in Ceramics. since 2014, her works have been shown at international levels in competitions, galleries, and museums and have won several prizes in Poland, Croatia, Spain, Romania, and China. She has exhibited widely in over one hundred group shows and over a dozen solo exhibitions throughout the world.

Deeply influenced by the Slavic cultures during her formative years, Janina has developed a unique and unmistakable style inspired by folk arts such as nesting dolls, Dymkovo toys of family figures, and Ukrainian embroidery, combining these influences with her knowledge of Pre-Colombian sculpture and her interest in contemporary comic books and graphic novels.

Janina’s characters display a specific, distorted body perspective. The forms are a bit clunky, chubby, anatomically misshapen, marked with accents which double the characters or hybridise their silhouettes. Each sculpture is a different personality, a personal story, a graphic “novel” featuring her favorite motifs: images of family relationships, parent and child, partners, pets. Myronova’s emotions are “scratched” into them, with a subtle hint towards humor. Wonder, anger, fear and joy are all present throughout her works.