Born in 1978 in Serpukhov, south of Moscow, Victoria Lomasko studied graphics and letterpress printing at the State University of Printing Arts in Moscow before making her way into comics reportage. Lomasko was inspired by documentary drawings from during the Siege of Leningrad, from penal and labour camps, and from the military.

Today, this artist focuses on Russia’s various subcultures and disadvantaged marginalised strata: from Orthodox religious communities, to LGBT activists and sex workers, through to migrant labourers and the country’s agricultural workers in the provinces. Lomasko observes people and situations very closely, capturing them with her adept spontaneous and powerful line in a stylised, but precise manner.

One of her first internationally published and renowned books was realised in collaboration with author Anton Nikolajew: a visual report on the court case against the organisers of the exhibition «Forbidden Art 2006». Her graphic report «The Invisible and the Angry», which points to social injustices and political suppression in Russia, was published in German in 2018.

Alongside her work on various publications and exhibitions in Russia, Lomasko is also involved in various human rights organisations, providing illustration workshops for incarcerated youths in Russia, for example. Victoria Lomasko will specially produce murals for the exhibition at Cartoonmuseum Basel, which will be the first relatively large solo exhibition on this artist and activist.

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