Nadiia Zhebrakovska is a Ukrainian-born artist based in the Netherlands whose work explores the expressive and symbolic power of the horse.

Trained in painting and graphics at the South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University in Odessa, she developed a strong academic foundation in drawing, anatomy, composition, and colour. For Zhebrakovska, academic knowledge is not a limitation but a structure that allows artistic freedom — a visual language that supports both realism and conceptual exploration.

The horse has become the central figure in her artistic practice. Inspired by mythology, personal experience with equestrian sports, and close observation of animal behaviour, she approaches the horse as both a living presence and a symbolic image. In her work the horse functions as a metaphor for authenticity, strength, vulnerability, and the constant tension between freedom and control.

Working primarily with coloured pencils and pastels, Zhebrakovska combines precise academic drawing with layered colour and expressive mark-making. Her recent works explore how images transform through perception and memory, often introducing elements of movement, fragmentation, and energy into otherwise realistic forms.

She lives and works in the Netherlands and exhibits her work in exhibitions and projects focused on equine art and contemporary figurative practice.