Subach Elena

Born in 1980 in Chervonohrad, Lviv region, Elena Subach initially pursued a career in economics after earning her degree from Lesya Ukrainka Eastern European National University. In 2012 she shifted fully to photography, joining the 5×5/Dzyga art community in Lviv.

Her artistic practice now explores religion, traditions, gendered memory, and the legacies of the Soviet past. Subach’s work includes emotionally resonant series such as Grandmothers on the Edge of Heaven, Chairs (2022), Hidden (2022), Meteorite Berdychiv, and City of Gardens.

She has exhibited widely, including at Palazzo Zuccari in Rome (Hidden, 2023), Szara Gallery in Warsaw (Subach/Poliakov, 2022), Galerie 21 in Hamburg, and Naked Room in Kyiv. Her work is held in collections at Neues Museum Nürnberg, V&A (London), MOCA Lviv, and others. Subach is a member of the Ukrainian Photographic Alternative, winner of the New East Photo Prize (2016), Gaude Polonia scholarship, and Future Talents nominee (2019). Between 2019 and 2022, she worked at the Lviv National Gallery and now teaches art history at SKVOT in Kyiv.

View artist’s Instagram profile