Inna Bychenkova

Inna Valentynivna Bychenkova (; 5 June 1941 – 16 January 2023) was a Soviet and Ukrainian theater and film artist and teacher. Honored Artist of Ukraine.

Early life and education Inna Bychenkova graduated from the Kyiv State Art Institute (1967, workshop of Mykola Dukhnovsky).

Career Bychenkova worked in the field of painting, scenography, and cinema. Among her principal works are: Theatrical still lifes (1979–82), Birth of an Image (1979), Illusion (1981), Every Evening (1982); series – Provincial Life (1980–83), Autumn Motifs (1995–96), Dreamy Still Lifes (1996–98), Unforgettable Past (1999).

Bychenkova was a member of the National Union of Theater Actors of Ukraine (1971), the National Union of Artists of Ukraine (1976), and the Ukrainian Association of Cinematographers (1989).

The film Raspad (1990), in which Bychenkova was a Production Designer, about the accident at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant and its consequences, received two film awards: the gold medal at the IFF in Venice and the grand prix at the IFF of environmental film and television films in Santander (Spain).

Style Bychenkova reproduced the beauty of the environment on complex canvases, combining painting and theatrical principles. Bychenkova's paintings, which she generously shared with friends, and demonstrated at annual exhibitions, are characterized by exceptional lyricism, and a profound experience of the existential nature of being.

Personal life Bychenkova's daughter Yulia, son-in-law, and grandson Platon also devoted themselves to art, working as graphic artists and living in the USA.

Selected filmography

As a Costume Designer

1984 – Two Hussars (directed by Viacheslav Kryshtofovych) 1985 – Volodya the Great, Volodya the Little (directed by Viacheslav Kryshtofovych) 1986 – The Kings and the Cabbage 1986 – Guard Me, My Talisman

As a Production Designer

1984 – Captain Fracass (TV movie, 2 episodes, co-authored with Maria Levitska) 1986 – The Golden Chain 1987 – The Red Fairy 1988 – Self-portrait of the Unknown 1988 – The Meadow of Fairy Tales 1990 – Raspad (co-authored with Vasyl Zaruba) 1993 – Hetman's Kleynods – Golden Knight Prize of the International Conference of Slavic and Orthodox Peoples (1993) for the best pictorial solution 1995 – Helly and Knock 1997 – The Seventh Route 2000 – Black Council (9 episodes) 2012 – Mom, I love the pilot...