Varvara Yurenko (Varvara Ю) is a Ukrainian Glasgow-based multidisciplinary artist whose practice explores the relationship between people, place and the changing environment. Her practice focuses on investigating human relationships, how people relate to one another, and how they construct the worlds in which those relationships take place. Working across painting, photography, installation and sculpture, she combines observational imagery with abstract and material processes to consider how personal experience intersects with wider social questions. Varvara is particularly interested in creating work that invites viewers to become active participants, almost as actors stepping into the worlds constructed within her paintings and installations.

Thanks for being with us, Varvara! Can you elaborate on the significance or symbolism of the chosen title of your exhibition?
The theme of the exhibition came to me quite organically, because I am used to seeing my paintings as a photograph that someone would take during a particular performance in the theatre. Although my paintings have so many events and characters involved, they still need an audience. Therefore, in order for the performance to begin, I directly wanted to invite the audience by giving them a ticket – the ticket gives you the right to enter. What happens once you are inside?

What’s your favourite piece in the exhibition?
It’s quite difficult for me to choose one favourite piece, they are quite complex in terms of characters, but in each work I choose my favourite character-actor. Often it is he who bears the most responsibility for what happens in the painting.

What emotions or reactions do you hope viewers experience when they see your artwork?
I don’t expect a single reaction from the viewer. I wonder whether they might be able to immerse themselves in someone else’s world while, at the same time, remaining within their own – perhaps allowing the boundaries between the two to dissolve. There is something I find exciting about that moment of slight, almost magical confusion, when it becomes difficult to tell where one reality ends and another begins. If the viewer reaches that point, that would be the most satisfactionary reaction for me.

Can you walk us through your creative process?
My creative process always starts with something – a fragment, a pattern, a combination of words, numbers or shapes. I am drawn to things that might otherwise seem useless, humble or insignificant, and I like the idea of transforming them and revealing a value or possibility that might not have been visible at first. Sometimes a particular pattern or unexpected combination of elements switches something on inside me. From there, a world begins to form, often subconsciously. Eventually I bring that world onto the canvas. All these things become a resource for me – fortunately, one that never runs out. Wherever I go, there will always be some spot on the wall that will speak in its monologue-dialogue to me.

How has your practice changed over time?
My practice has changed significantly over time, but if I look back to its beginnings, I realise that it has always been about people. I started by painting portraits of acquaintances, friends and people I admired. Alongside painting, I have always had a strong passion for making and constructing. I found myself building, sculpting and giving found objects new roles within sculptures, devices and even interiors. This led me to different vectors: photography, textiles, video, text, ceramics, drawing, painting, design. I tried almost everything and realised that all of it was about and is my practice. I consider myself a craftswoman who uses the generosity of the variety of not only colours, but also materials, and how these two, in synchrony with me, can create a new object, be it a painting, a sculpture, or simply something that resists being described in words.

Which artists inspire you? Are there non-artistic influences such as literature or music that impact your work?
Among artists, I am attracted not so much by the single artist, but by the metaphoricality they use. Sometimes just because of the name of the work, and sometimes because of certain intentions. For example, Rene Magritte, who puts something above reality, calling his work The Empire of Light, depicting a paradoxical phenomenon – a dark night street illuminated by a lantern, when at the same time there is a bright daytime sky with a few clouds. Or Sofia Yablonska, who bravely trusted herself and her desires, started anew – she gave up a stable career and became one of the first female cinematographers, traveling the world and carrying Ukrainian grain wherever she went. Or Sonia Delaunay, who through colour could explore a thousand plots and where they are moving. Among literature, I always note the irresistible influence of the Ukrainian poet Lina Kostenko, who with three words “the sun of tomorrow” begins in me a thousand others, as yet unsaid.

Find out more about Varvara’s work on Instagram. Ticket To The Theatre runs at Six Foot Gallery until Tues 29th September 2026.