Stepan Ryabchenko is a Ukrainian new media artist. His work spans digital art, conceptual architecture, graphics, sculpture, and light installations. The focus of his attention is the boundary between the real and virtual world and the research of the new nature of art. In his artwork, the artist creates his own digital universe with its heroes and mythology. Known for his monumental prints and video-art installations of non-existent characters, including Computer viruses, Electronic winds, Virtual flowers, etc.
Combining figurative and abstract futuristic language, he creates largescale digital prints and computer animation, which become "fragments" of the virtual universe he designed. Often the subjects of the image are imaginary plants and animals – the surrealistic appearance of the life form, existing according to the laws of the world created for them by the artist. The virtual landscapes in which Ryabchenko unfolds the stories of the characters are a self-sufficient multidimensional digital reality. Despite its technological digital origin, the appearance of this space is far from all urban and man-made. Using a component of technological development of mankind as a tool Stepan Ryabchenko appeals to the idea of human relationships with the natural environment.
Stepan Ryabchenko's works have been widely exhibited internationally, including the exhibition in Ludwig Museum in Budapest, Art & History Museum in Brussels, MAXXI – National Museum of 21st Century Art in Rome, Saatchi Gallery in London, Krolikarnia in Warsaw, Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb, Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum in Bratislava, Silkeborg Bad Art Centre in Silkeborg, Ars Electronica Center in Linz, etc. His works have also been exhibited in many places in Ukraine, including PinchukArtCentre, Mystetskyi Arsenal, National Art Museum, M17 Contemporary Art Center, Museum of Odessa Modern Art, Modern Art Research Institute, etc.
Stepan Ryabchenko has received several awards and recognition for this work including Grand Prix of the Art-Act, the First All-Ukrainian Triennial of Abstract Art (2010), Nominee for the PinchukArtCentre Prize (2011), Laureate of the International Contemporary Sculpture Prize at the Kyiv Sculpture Project (2012), Grand Prix of the International Competition for the Sculptural Symbol of the Odesa International Airport (2019), Finalist of the Tampa International Airport Public Art Project (2020), Laureate of the Mikhail Bozhyi Art Prize in the Monumental Art nomination (2022).
In 2020, Stepan Ryabchenko was selected to represent Ukraine at the International Changwon Sculpture Biennale in South Korea. In 2021, he was included in the list of the best digital artists from the British publication, Electric Artefacts. In the same year represented Ukraine at the Expo 2020 in Dubai.