The artist's childhood dates back to the 1930s, a time of industrialization in Ukraine when pompous demonstrations were being held in the cities across the country. At the same time, churches were being destroyed, peasants died of starvation, and people in the cities disappeared forever after being arrested by the secret police. Two of Zubchenko's grandfathers suffered from repressions.

After World War II, Halyna studied at the Kyiv State Art Institute. She spent her summer practice in the Carpathians where she fell in love with the mountains, the architecture and life of the locals—Hutsuls (an ethnographic group of Ukrainians living in western Ukraine). One of Zubchenko's most acclaimed paintings was her graduation work "Hutsul Wedding."

In 1962, Halyna Zubchenko joined the Kyiv Creative Youth Club that brought together progressive artists, writers and scientists. At that time, she decided to dedicate herself to Ukrainian monumental art.

In 1964, together with a group of artist friends, Halyna created a stained glass window "Shevchenko. Mother" in the main building of Kyiv University. The work depicted poet Taras Shevchenko as an indignant artist who hugged an offended woman—Ukraine. This image infuriated officials. The stained glass window was destroyed and its authors were persecuted. Exclusion from the Ukrainian Artists Union became a temporary ban on the profession: artists were deprived of state orders, their main source of income; their studios granted by the state were also taken away.

Until the early 1980s, Halyna Zubchenko created mosaics on facades of public buildings, first with her husband and then independently after his death. In Kyiv, her works can be seen on the walls of the Nauka sports complex, the Institute of Nuclear Research, the Institute of Cybernetics, and the Institute of Urology. It wasn't until 1985 that the artist returned to the Carpathians and started painting again after a long break.

Zubchenko's works can be found in many museums in Ukraine as well as in galleries and private collections in the United States, Canada, Argentina, Japan, Australia, Germany, and Croatia.