The academic community of Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts is delighted to celebrate another achievement by one of our students! Irina GUBANOVA, a 1st-year student of the “Jewellery Art” educational programme, has earned recognition from the international art community.

The young artist received this award for her participation in the prestigious Artistar Jewels international exhibition project, where she presented her original works. Particular attention was drawn to her pendant “Dualism: Equinox”, created in 2024.

“I created this pendant in 2024 as part of my ‘Dualism’ series. The series is based on the shape of a cut apple, within which different images come together. In ‘Equinox’, these are a male and female cat, the Sun and the Moon. My intention was not to contrast them, but to show that one becomes visible through the other. ‘Equinox’ represents a state of balance between the opposites, in which neither side exists independently and the boundary between them is not as clear-cut as it may seem”, the artist explains.

Irina GUBANOVA’s creative style is characterised by a synthesis of microsculpture and wearable art. Her original pendant “Motanka: To Battle!” has already become iconic: it has been featured on a Ukrposhta postage stamp and added to the permanent collection of the Treasury of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine.

We express our sincere gratitude to Stanislav DROKIN, guarantor of the educational programme, for his professionalism, teaching expertise and the development of students’ potential.