Author-Illustrator & Animator
About
In 2023 I received a Fulbright grant to pursue a master's degree in the US, and in 2025 I graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with an MFA in Illustration. Here's an Instagram post RISD made about my work.
Since the start of russia's full-scale invasion, home has been a recurring theme in my personal work. In 2024 I created Homebound, my author-illustrator debut, a wordless picture book about war in Ukraine. The book is going to be available from Orecchio Acerbo (Italy) in early 2026.
I've been working professionally as an illustrator and designer for nearly a decade, collaborating with publishers and organizations in Ukraine, the US, and internationally. I work both digitally and traditionally, with a particular love for watercolor and colored pencils. I also can't stop drawing birds!
If you'd like to work with me or just want to say hi, please send an email at winklerita[at]gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you!
Recognition & Awards
3×3 International Illustration Show No. 22 — Merit Award 2x, 2025
American Illustration 44 — Chosen Winner, 2025
Northern Festival of Illustration Prize—Emerging Animator Shortlisted, 2025
Fulbright Graduate Student Award, 2023–2025
RISD Academic Fellowship, 2023–2025
Muskie Professional Fellowship, 2025
The Unpublished Picturebook Showcase #6, 2024
Slanted Magazine #43 — Ukraine feature, 2024
Select Clients
Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute
The Old Lion Publishing House
Laboratory Publishers
IlluSalon
Nash Format Publishers
Vivat Publishing
Yakaboo Publishing
Knygolove
Local History
Group Shows
2025–2026 Collaborative Futures—Small Approaches, Gmünder Kunstverein Galerie, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany
2025 Something Around Storytelling, Land to Sea, Brooklyn, NY, USA
2025 RISD Grad Show, Rhode Island Convention Center, Providence, RI, USA
2025 In-Between, Gelman Gallery, Providence, RI, USA
2025 11th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists’ Book Contest, Fleet Library, Providence, RI, USA
2024 Illustration Graduate Program Summer Show, ISB Gallery, Providence, RI, USA
2024 RISD Illustration MFA Biennial, Sol Koffler Gallery, Providence, RI, USA
2017–2018 The Comic Continent on Tour, various locations in Georgia, Ukraine, and Lithuania