Vasilisa Romanenko’s Birds and Blooms series is a breathtaking collision of nature and opulence, transforming ordinary birds into regal creatures draped in lavish, hand-painted patterns. Each portrait is a meticulous celebration of texture and color, where delicate feathers intertwine with intricate floral motifs, gilded accents, and swirling Art Nouveau-inspired designs. Romanenko’s work blurs the line between zoological accuracy and surreal fantasy, elevating sparrows, finches, and tits into avian monarchs adorned in imagined finery. The result is a visual feast that feels both timeless and dreamlike, as if plucked from a forgotten bestiary illuminated by a modern-day master.
Beyond their sheer beauty, these portraits carry a subtle commentary on humanity’s relationship with nature—our impulse to embellish, idealize, and sometimes impose our aesthetics onto the wild. Romanenko’s birds are neither fully natural nor entirely fantastical; they exist in a liminal space where art and ecology converse. The precision of her brushwork ensures every bloom and filigree harmonizes with the bird’s natural form, creating a symbiotic relationship between the organic and the ornamental. This delicate balance invites reflection on how we perceive and romanticize the natural world, wrapping it in our own narratives.
Romanenko’s process is a labor of devotion, requiring countless hours of observation, sketching, and painstaking detailing. She studies avian anatomy with scientific rigor before unleashing her imagination, ensuring each embellishment enhances rather than obscures the creature’s essence. The series feels like a love letter to biodiversity, reimagining its splendor through a lens of unapologetic extravagance. In a world where wildlife is often reduced to background noise, Romanenko’s work demands pause—a reminder that even the most common birds deserve to be seen as the masterpieces they are.
More info: Website, Instagram.
in Bahia. 