Page 24 - South Mississippi Living - September, 2026

ARTS
story by Cherie Ward photos by Nadiya Copeland
When Ukrainian artist Iryna Gusiuk arrived in Ocean Springs
four years ago, she painted what she’d lost. Today, she’s painting
what she’s found.
The difference isn’t simply reflected in her artwork, but also in
the life she’s rebuilt along the Gulf Coast.
South Mississippi Living readers may remember Gusiuk’s story
from 2022, when she fled war-torn Ukraine with her young
daughter, Kira, and her mother, Polina. An accomplished artist,
interior designer, and art professor, she left behind a successful
24 | September 2026 career and the country that had shaped both her life and her
artwork.
One of the first paintings she completed after arriving in
Mississippi became her way of saying farewell. “It was goodbye
to the life I had left behind and preserving my connection to the
place that shaped me,” Gusiuk said.
As the months passed, those deeply personal works gave way to
something new. She began painting the Gulf Coast itself—the
marshes, waterways, towering oaks, and the quiet beauty.
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