Sunflower Girl — Original Oil Painting by Marina Stognieva

The Story Behind the Painting

"Sunflower Girl" is an original painting by Ukrainian artist Marina Stognieva, created in 2025 with oil paints on canvas. The artwork is part of the artist’s cultural project "Picturesque Guide to Ukraine" and is dedicated to the Donetsk Region.

At the centre of the composition is a Ukrainian girl surrounded by sunflowers. Her face is painted with softness and warmth, while the bright floral wreath and red roses on her clothing create a vivid connection with Ukrainian folk culture, the land, and traditional decorative imagery.

Overall view of the original painting "Sunflower Girl", oil on canvas, 21 × 30 cm

The sunflowers carry a special symbolic meaning within the composition. They are associated with sunlight, vitality, fertile land, and resilience. Against the dark background, their golden petals appear even more luminous, as if they were preserving their own inner sun.

The image of the girl is built on a contrast between tenderness and strength. Her expression retains a childlike openness, yet there is also a quiet dignity in her gaze. The darkness surrounding her intensifies the warmth of her face and the rich colours of the flowers, making the figure appear almost like a source of light within the painting.

Detail of "Sunflower Girl": the girl’s face, expressive oil-paint texture, and floral elements.

Within the "Picturesque Guide to Ukraine" project, this painting becomes an emotional image of the Donetsk Region — a place often associated mainly with industrial landscapes and the dramatic events of recent history. Here, Marina Stognieva reveals another Donetsk: warm, human, deeply connected with Ukrainian culture, and filled with sunlight, flowers, memory, and attachment to the native land.

"Sunflower Girl" speaks about the ability to preserve light even when the world around us becomes dark. The child’s image, Ukrainian decorative motifs, and sunflowers come together as symbols of continuity, cultural memory, hope, and inner resilience.

You can learn more about the history, culture, landscapes, and other paintings dedicated to the Donetsk Region on the project’s regional page.

→ Explore the Donetsk Region in the "Picturesque Guide to Ukraine"

"Sunflower Girl" can become a warm and expressive accent in a contemporary interior and may especially appeal to collectors of Ukrainian art, symbolic painting, figurative art, and artworks with a strong cultural and emotional identity.

Visualisation of "Sunflower Girl" in a contemporary interior.

Original Artwork

Title: "Sunflower Girl"

Artist: Marina Stognieva

Year: 2025

Technique: Oil Painting

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Size: 21 × 30 cm

Project: "Picturesque Guide to Ukraine" — Donetsk Region

Subject: Ukrainian girl, sunflowers, child portrait, Donetsk Region, Ukrainian culture, symbolism, cultural memory, light, resilience, contemporary Ukrainian painting

Signed by the artist.

For Purchase & Enquiries

To purchase the original painting "Sunflower Girl", order a signed collectible fine art print, or request additional information, please contact the artist directly.

Viber, WhatsApp, Telegram:
+380 93 520 74 31

Additional Phone:
+44 7596 724323

Email:
art_stognieva@ukr.net

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