Born in the city of Vinnytsia, the artist grew up amid the grand beauty of Ukrainian nature, with its endless fields, free-flowing rivers, and picturesque shores. The sky, trees, and lakes surrounded by mountains became sources of mystical inspiration for her early works. Her career choice became apparent back then; she decided to devote her life to art.

After receiving a degree in architecture in Kyiv, Gelena started working in the Main Department of Architecture in her hometown. The prestigious and compelling work quickly lost its allure for Gelena due to the bureaucratic and formalist approach of the later Soviet management system. She realized that her ideas of beauty and harmony had no place in it. She was fascinated by Renaissance art she had seen in Florentine museums, the museums of Paris, the canals of Venice, the profound antiquities of Jerusalem, and the Judaean Desert.

In 1990, Gelena decided to take a crucial step towards her destiny and her career as an artist. She immigrated to Israel with her family. Their new home, Israel, seemed to hold immense potential for all kinds of talents, but her first steps were not easy. Adapting and learning everything from scratch, Gelena’s artworks began to reflect her growing familiarity with the new culture. This transformation was evident through a variety of themes in her work: the mysterious world of women, the realm of street performers and the circus—used as an allegory for everyday life where many people also wear masks and play roles—and the culture of Judaism, one of the oldest religions, which opposes the vanities of the world and the transience of values.

It was a challenging time that required significant effort and struggle, leaving her with limited time to paint. Gradually, Gelena found herself able to focus on creativity and express herself as an artist. Most of her paintings from this period were created in a studio in the old city of Jaffa, which greatly inspired her.

Using classical painting techniques, gaining experience, developing new individual methods, and experimenting with different painting styles, Gelena gradually developed her own approach that continues the traditions of many schools and movements of the 20th century. Her work is exceptionally vivid, saturated, and offers an unexpected point of view. By now, Gelena is an established artist with many admirers of her talent in Israel and abroad.