Lovha Olha

Member of the National Union of People’s Masters of Ukraine (2012).

Olha Lovha was born on 22 October 1974 in Irshava, Transcarpathia. She has been interested in cross-stitching, needlepoint and beadweaving since her childhood. She got her education in Moldova – graduated from the Tiraspol Lyceum in 1997. Since 2001 – the head of the embroidery and beadweaving groups of Irshava House of Children's Creativity. In 2010, the artist became a member of the District Society "Koloryt Borzhavy".

Olha Lovha is engaged in bead weaving, embroidery. She works in techniques of satin-stitch, lace, cross-stitch, beadwork. Olha Lovha's products – ornaments, paintings and panels, bags, pysankas – perform a different utilitarian function.

Particular attention deserves the artist’s jewellery – necklaces, earrings, gerdany (ribbon, membranous, rosette and pendant), kryzy, sylianky (collars, toothed), ties, belts. They differ not only in design but also in compositional features peculiar for different regions of Transcarpathia. According to art historians, O. Lovha constantly experiments and improves her skills which can be seen by the diversity of her works, their art and technological characteristics. She improves her cross-stitch, satin-stitch by Hardanger technique and various hem-stitches, she uses a large number of beadweaving techniques, including lace, loop, needle, volumetric and parallel weaving, French, nailing, weaving. Her work is multifaceted and original.

Since 1996, she has been an active participant in the city, all-Ukrainian and foreign art exhibitions. Personal exhibitions were held in Irshava (2002, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2011) and Uzhhorod (2011, 2012). The personal exhibition of Olha, held in 2011 at the Transcarpathian Regional Museum of Architecture and Life, greatly amazed a lot of art lovers.  The exposition presented 154 works, which depict only the flowers:  cross-stitching, satin stitch, beadweaving, voluminous flowers on the wire, made in various techniques and decorated in vases, baskets, frames, panels. As it was later written in numerous periodicals, the exhibitors were fascinated by the variety of flowers that literally seemed to be alive: "And it's not surprising, because the artist always works in a good mood, sharing her positive energy with help of her works to everyone who is looking at them."

In 2012, some of the best works of the artist were exhibited in Bratislava.
The same year, at the exhibition "Colours of the Carpathians" in the Transcarpathian Regional Museum of Architecture and Life, the artist presented her works with the complex themes: state symbolic, features of Transcarpathia through the embroidery and beadweaving works. The audience was impressed by the coat of arms of Ukraine – a cross-stitching trident a, and coats of arms of Uzhhorod and Irshava embroidered with beads.

Olha Lovha is also a participant in numerous regional and all-Ukrainian collective exhibitions, in particular, the exhibition on the occasion of the Days of Europe in the Uzhhorod Museum of Architecture and Life (2006), the exhibition "Artists of Borzhava Valley" (Uzhhorod, the Regional Museum of Architecture and Life, 2010), the All-Ukrainian Exhibition "Ukrainian Souvenir" (Kyiv, 2010), and others. In 2015, she took part in the International Festival of Folk Art in Uzhhorod, one of the artist's works participated in the exhibition of artists of folk creativity "The Best Work of the Year" (Kyiv, 2014).

Olha Lovha said about her creativity in one of her interviews as follows: "Things I do are very important to me. I think about our traditions, folk art a lot, try to get deeper into its essence, to reveal the secrets. It is very exciting and incredibly interesting. I am inspired by the beautiful surrounding nature, sincere people, and the most important by the people who support understand and help me in everything – these are my parents and my brother with his family. I’m sincerely grateful them for it."

The artist's works are stored in the Transcarpathian Museum of Folk Architecture and Life, as well as in the private collections. A catalogue with her works entitled "Bright Colours of My Life" was published in Uzhhorod in 2015.