In January 2025 KW published an article about me, titled “Kunstenares Yelena droomt van een eigen tentoonstelling” (“Artist Yelena dreams of her own exhibition”). At the time I had about ten works ready and one big wish: to show my paintings to the public, here in the region that has long been my home.
Where it began
More than twenty years ago I came to Belgium from Kazakhstan, where I had studied fine arts at university. Here I got the chance to try teaching drawing as a volunteer at schools in Wevelgem and Gullegem. After that I took masterclasses and training in Milan and Paris, and then I really started painting. Painting became my great passion.
From dream to reality
In the months that followed I worked hard on new paintings and prepared for my first exhibition. In October 2025 that dream came true. At the group exhibition in Kasteel Borluut in Ghent, Artpoint Vlaanderen awarded my collection of ten paintings the Main Prize. A week later I showed my work at Buren bij Kunstenaars in the Dwarsschuur 't Goed te Wynckele in Gullegem. Since then my work has been on show at Kasteel van Poeke and, together with the Koninklijke Sint-Lucasgilde Kortrijk, in the Sint-Annazaal and the Gotische Zaal in Kortrijk, among other places.
With the Main Prize at Kasteel Borluut, Ghent, October 2025
What's next
Coming up: Buda Gallery in Kortrijk (28 November 2026 – 3 January 2027), Kasteel Scheldevelde in De Pinte (5–6 December 2026) and, from 28 to 30 May 2027, art3f Kortrijk at Kortrijk Xpo. For art3f I am already working on a new painting that will be shown there for the first time.
Thank you to everyone who came to see my work over the past months. Discover the paintings in the Collection and all dates in the agenda. Perhaps see you in Kortrijk!
Also read the article in KW: Kunstenares Yelena droomt van een eigen tentoonstelling, and my page on Buren bij Kunstenaars.