About
Kseniya Fuchs, born in Donetsk, is a Ukrainian writer, translator, journalist, artist and society activist based in Berlin. She studied English literature at the Donetsk National University and Advertising at Stuttgart University of Media. As a social activist, she runs the Ukrainian-German magazine Gel[:b]lau and manages the NGO Ukrainian Atelier for Culture and Sport e.V.
As an autor
As an author, I write both poetry and prose. The year 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea in violation of international law, has changed my life forever: Since then, social responsibility and commitment as well as mental health have been my life maxims and the basis of my literary and journalistic work. The central theme of my debut novel “At the Back of the Sun: A story of one loneliness” (2019, Tempora) is social perception of people with mental illnesses and self-identification of patients who ended up in psychiatric clinics.
Since 2020 I write for the Ukrainian magazine “Tyzhden” various articles on mental health and psychoeducation.
Since 2020 I have been writing for a publishing house “Books XXI” .
My novels “12 Seasons of a Woman” (2020) and “12 Hours of a Man” (2022) are dedicated to the various social and psychological challenges faced by modern women and men.
Books
At the Back of the Sun: A story of one loneliness
Tempora, ISBN: 978-617-569-402-2
2019
12 Seasons of a Woman
Books XXI, ISBN: 978-617-614-286-7
2020
12 Hours of a Man
Books XXI, ISBN: 978-617-614-373-4
2022
Awards
Smoloskyp 2018
laureate of the literary contest “Smoloskyp” for the novel “At the Back of the Sun”
2018
BBC Book of the Year
short-list for the novel “At the Back of the Sun”
2019
long-list for the novel “12 Seasons of a Woman”
2020
As an artist
As a interdisciplinary artist, I like to experiment with a wide variety of different media and mixed media combinations.
Thus, my works contains many layers and textures, as well as certain social statements. At the same time the intense colors of all the artworks serve as a certain unifier. My mixed media collages I see as a concoction of different fragments of my eclectic life experience. By sewing together my analogue photos, drawings, abstract paintings, cutouts and letters I create new hybrid art forms with a certain moment of storytelling. War in my homeland Ukraine, mass media overloading, consumer society, constant search of one’s own self alongside with art and love as only rescuers are the most important messages of the stories behind my art works.
Solo exhibitions
Donbas: 2014-2016
Photo exhibition (analogue and digital photos from East of Ukraine)
Artspaces “Kulturinsel” (Stuttgart) and “Bastion” (Ivano-Frankivsk), 2018-2019
Bunte Tage (Bright Days)
Art-exhibition (acrylic and silk paintings), animated projections
Kunst– und Lichternacht in donauwörth 2018, 10/2018
Spuren des Krieges (Traces of War)
Analogue photo exhibition (photos from war in Ukraine)
Temporäre-Kunst-Garage Heslach (stuttgart), 12/2022
Group Exhibitions
Kunst- und Lichternacht 2019
Acrylic painting and mixed media collages, animated projections
Downtown donauwörth, 10/2019
Kulturforum:Ukraine
Silk paintings
Galerie auf dem Podest, Stadtbibliothek Reutlingen, 05-07/2022
Discover Ukraine: Volkskunst trifft Moderne
Analogue photos and silk paintings