Alina Kleytman

Born in 1991 in Kharkiv, Ukraine, she is a visual artist, performer, and mentor whose practice spans sculpture, video art, and curatorial projects. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Monumental Sculpture from the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts (2012) and later studied at the Rodchenko Moscow School of Photography and Multimedia (2015). Kleytman describes her artistic approach as hysterical realism, exploring the psychological and physical boundaries of the body alongside themes of black magic, abusive relationships, and self-aggrandizement as a form of depersonalization. Her work subjectively embodies contemporary political and social realities. In her sculptures, she transforms everyday objects into artificial, fantastical forms, working with materials such as fur, hair, feathers, metal, synthetic plastics, and silicone. She also incorporates artifacts from conflict zones—shattered glass, body bags, melted roofs—turning them into memory capsules that bear witness to acts of violence. She has created a persona, DIRTY WHITE, designed to absorb and neutralize accumulated hatred, rage, and anger. Together with Nikita Kadan and Bogdana Kosmina she created the curatorial group Wet Hole. They founded Dzherelo Art Pavilion, a 24/7 public art space in Kyiv. Her work has received significant recognition, including the Women in Visual Arts Prize (awarded by UN Women and the Ukrainian Institute) in 2021 for her impact on gender equality. She is also a two-time winner of the PinchukArtPrize, receiving the award for SUPER A in 2015 and ASK A MOM in 2018. Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she relocated to Torino, Italy, where she currently lives and works.