My name is Sofiia Vinnichenko. I am Ukrainian, living in England due to the full scale Russian invasion of my country in 2022. A month ago, I was accepted into the Master of Fine Art program at the University of Oxford, Ruskin School of Art. I am seeking financial support to fund my studies for the 2025–2026 academic year and hope that you may be willing to help me.

First, I’d like to tell you more about my path.

Here is a timeline:

2017:

Went to work to raise money for my first camera.

My first job: was doing cold calls for air conditioner cleaning services.

Then started as a social media manager at STUD-POINT, Ukraine’s largest student platform for jobs, courses, and career opportunities—becoming the youngest in the company’s history to hold the role.

Launched a photo project and completed the fundraiser for my first camera at age 16.

2017-2018:

Decided to study German in Ukraine. In Ukraine there were no art schools where it was possible to study photography. In Germany, education was free, but only for German speakers. So I started teaching myself.

Worked hard at my state school in Kyiv and joined the top 7% of applicants to qualify for a fully-funded university place in Ukraine, which I achieved.

2019:

Received an academic stipend for being among the top 10 in the faculty.

2020:

Became 1 of 4 students to receive the Baden-Württemberg Scholarship to go on exchange to Germany to continue my linguistic studies. Added photography classes to my linguistics program to build a portfolio for future art school applications. Graduated from the photography class with distinction.

2021:

Took out a loan to fund my first solo exhibition in Ukraine, titled “One, Two.”

2022:

Relocated to Karlsruhe, Germany after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Finished my BA remotely.

Attended Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design as a guest student.

Held a solo exhibition at “fiftyfifty” Gallery in Düsseldorf (where Tillmans and Richter had previously shown). Sold my work and raised €5,000 for medical aid in Ukraine. Felt, for the first time, that art had power.

Moved to Berlin to become a guest student at Berlin University of the Arts. Worked two part-time jobs to survive.

2023:

Worked as interpreter for the Kyiv State Administration during their visit to Leipzig.

Wrote for Cultured Magazine, profiling Ukrainian artists.

Coached Ukrainian refugees in Germany through a professional development programme at GoVolunteer.

Accepted for Royal College of Art, London MA Photography programme.

2024:

First year of formal art education after seven years of self-teaching.

Obtained MA from Royal College of Art, London.

Won an award from Shadow Labs.

Work published in British Journal of Photography.

Was voted to represent the School of Arts & Humanities at the College level.

2025:

Accepted to Master of Fine Art programme at the Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford.

2026:

Will depend on funding!

About my current practice:

My mother used to read us two prayers every night — Our Father and a prayer for the guardian angel. Both in Russian. In 2022, the chances of dying in Ukraine increased drastically. The chances of me ever using Russian again dropped proportionally. I was left with no language to pray in.

I started looking at belief — not in the abstract, but where it lives when everything collapses. Where it hides. How it behaves when it has no shelter. Whether it watches, screams, disappears, or transforms. That is where my project begins.

Looking closely at the family photographic archives and combining present imagery with archival, I translate something that belongs to me — and something I never fully had. Like memories of my dreams stuck in Russian, a language I don’t use anymore.

Why Oxford?

The Oxford course is particularly suitable to take my artistic practice forward: I aim to focus my research on the narrative around pre-trauma stress disorder

and its relation to belief. An admixture of immense pain to the belief makes one relearn it,

transforming it into a tool for bracing oneself for the worst, into constant tragedy rehearsals. At the Department of Experimental Psychology, I hope to work with Dr. Jennifer Wild and Professor Anke Ehlers, whose work on PTSD and resilience was instrumental to identifying pre-trauma risk factors.

With its very particular sensibility to political contexts, I am convinced that Ruskin will be a place for my project to develop and contribute to both global and local conversations on post-colonial states of which my native Ukraine is an example.

Joining Ruskin is not merely an academic pursuit; it is an exciting opportunity to develop my practice. In the fourth year of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we are living through a kind of collective pre-trauma, a moment that is already reshaping society, speaking to the project's time sensitivity.

Why help to fund me?

As an artist, I see from within how cultural presence often reflects historical dominance. That’s why I also believe in the quiet strength of persistence, and that when history fractures a generation, art becomes not only expression, but resistance — testimony, and continuity.

This belief drives both my practice and my commitment to preserving cultural dialogue. Alongside my work as an artist, I co-direct an NGO called KunstBrücke, dedicated to fostering cultural exchange between Ukraine and Switzerland. Through residencies and exhibitions, we aim to support reciprocal dialogue to preserve culture and support artists, especially in challenging contexts.

Supporting me is not only an investment in art, but in soft power: in cultural diplomacy, and in leadership born not of access, but of intent.

What will your funding go towards?

Oxford’s tuition fee is £17,900, of which £16,580 has already been secured through donations from private donors. I am seeking to raise £1,360, which includes a small buffer to account for transaction fees (2.9% + £0.25 per transaction). I am committed to covering living expenses through work and additional grants.

Your support will directly fund my further education — and through it, the projects I continue to lead.

The Oxford course is a dream and a challenge. I believe we should never deny ourselves the courage to try — even when the price feels impossibly high. I learned this at 16 and will always encourage people to reach for what they truly wish for, not only what they think they can afford to want.

If you or someone in your network would like to help, I would be deeply grateful.

I would also be glad to connect and speak via LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofiia-vinnichenko/ and from there continue our conversation via email, phone, or chat.

Thank you very much for reading my proposal. I hope it resonates with you.

Sofiia