Artist’s Statement
My art is as spontaneous as a jazz improvisation. I consider every piece unique and never plan to focus on a single subject and build my art around it.
I never plan to focus on a single subject and build my art around it. Instead, I consider every piece of art unique and, in this sense, my art is as spontaneous as a jazz improvisation. I always have a clear vision of the complete piece but introduce sudden notes as I go. I lead the painting, making it follow my vision, and sometimes vice versa – the painting itself leads me in my work. This happens just like in a musical improvisation, where an almost accidental, unimportant note or a chord suddenly create in the composer’s imagination a new move, which later unravels in front of us.
Highly realistic objects such as plants or animals cohabit my works together with abstract elements. My paintings and graphics always include a lot of decorative motifs. Arrangements of bright spots and rhythmic ornaments resonate with the informational background of the modern lifestyle. Combination of abstract and realistic surrounded by extra detail suits my idea of the contemporary aesthetics and visual communication. My works are intended to be seen as fragments of larger unseen compositions that extend beyond the frame. Having no boundaries and no polished finish gives the paintings movement and vitality. They are just small snapshots of a larger imaginary reality.
Bio
Born and educated in Moscow, Russia, I received formal education in art as well as in applied arts: costume design, painting on silk and leather, and design of tapestry, which I found particularly interesting because I felt it allowed for extra volume and texture.
I spent a few years in Heidelberg, Germany – a town of picturesque hills and ruins of medieval castles, which inspired artists and poets of German Romanticism and provided great influence on work. There I got naturally attracted to landscapes in both watercolor and oil paint. And finally, when I moved to the United States, my paintings became more abstract with hidden animal and plant motifs.
Over the years, I had personal exhibitions at a number of Moscow museums, Daniels gallery in Brookline, ATAC Main Gallery at Amazing Things Art Center in Framingham, and From Russia with Art gallery in Cambridge and participated in a group exhibition in Attleboro Art Museum, Attleboro, MA and a number of group shows. I’ve been selected to participate in Open Studios in Newton, MA since 2005. Many of my pieces are now in private collections in Germany, Russia, and the United States. My work has been featured in 2010 River Art International Fine Art Competition catalog and a number of magazines, including December 2011 issue of Stone Voices magazine. In March, 2012 my graphic piece The Deer received Merit Award at White, Black & Shades of Gray exhibition at South Shore Art Center.
“I attempt to achieve the same visual and emotional effect using tapestry by reaching beyond the classic two-dimensional form and incorporating everyday life objects. I created a tapestry composition about family featuring my family shoes. Shoes standing at the house entrance tell a story about the family living in the house. In my work, these shoes are rich in color and are floating above the ground. They are tightly bound, however, by a DNA helix.
The idea of family is inherently related to the idea of generations and time. The only way to represent time in visual arts is through space. Thus, my symbolic family of shoes spacewalks.”
Solo and Two-Artist Shows:
March 2011 — From Russia with Art Gallery, Cambridge, MA
February 2010 — January 2011 — ATAC Main Gallery at Amazing Things Art Center, Framingham, MA
December 2010 — L’Aroma Cafe and Bakery, Newton, MA
October 2010 — exhibition hall at Honan-Allston branch of Boston Public Library
2009 — Lukomorye Kids’ Center, Needham, MA
2008 — Daniels gallery, Brookline, MA
1997 — Theater Academy Museum Moscow, Russia
1996 — Shalyapin State Museum, Moscow, Russia
Selected Group Exhibitions:
August-October 2015 — “Surrealities” exhibition at ArcWorks Community Art Center, Peabody, MA
October 2013 — Animal Arts exhibition, Light, Space & Time gallery (Merit Award)
February 2013 — Ordinary Everyday Objects exhibition, South Shore Art Center, Cohasset, MA (Award for Best Painting or Drawing)
April-May 2012 — South Shore Art Center, Cohasset, MA (Merit Award)
March 2012 — Attleboro Art Museum, Attleboro, MA
March— May 2011 — the Stable of Artists Gallery, Wrentham, MA
Since 2005 — Newton Open Studios
2008 — the Stable of Artists art show, Wrentham, MA
Awards
October 2013 — Merit Award for Peacock and Counting Sheep at Animal Arts exhibition, Light, Space & Time gallery
February 2013 — Award for Best Painting or Drawing for Cabbages at Ordinary Everyday Objects exhibition, Still Point Art Gallery
Spring 2012 — Merit Award for Deer at White, Black & Shades of Gray exhibition, South Shore Art Center
Published Illustrations:
Breath of Wind by Dmitry Semynin, Litkon Publishing, 2007, Russia
Publications:
December 2011 — Stone Voices magazine
February 2011 — River Art: 2010 Susquehanna International Fine Art Competition catalog
February 2010 — Contact magazine, Boston, MA
2010 — online magazine, Russia