Human society is complicated and multifaceted. Art is but one facet of our interaction with one another, but it is
vitally important, offering a living, continuously evolving archive of our everyday joys and sorrows. My practice as a
visual artist is rooted in a lifelong engagement with the emotional and symbolic dimensions of the human
experience. Working primarily in oils, I create figurative paintings that explore the interplay between myth, memory,
and being. My subjects often emerge from textured, abstracted backgrounds, where the boundaries between the
real and the imagined blur. These spaces allow for a multiplicity of readings, inviting viewers to confront both
personal and collective narratives.
My approach is informed by a transnational perspective: born in Soviet-era Moscow and having lived across Europe,
I draw from a wide range of cultural influences, always seeking to bridge the particular with the universal. Much of
my practice is devoted to the exploration of ma, the Japanese concept of negative space and the pause between
moments. Such moments are drawn from my own observations of life, and reflect a search for stillness and clarity
in a world saturated with noise and distraction. I aim to create spaces of contemplation, visual pauses that allow for
emotional and intellectual recalibration. Some of my work draws on classical mythology, particularly Greek gods
and archetypes, reinterpreted through a contemporary lens. Others feature contemporary bodies and lives. I treat
both gods and people with the same care and consideration. Across all my work, I am interested in the emotional
spectrum, anguish, ecstasy, resilience, and how it manifests in the human form. I often like working in
monochromatic scale as it leaves a different, emphatic impact on a viewer, wherein portraiture plays a central role,
offering a direct, intimate encounter with the viewer.
Ultimately, my work is an attempt to cut through illusion, to clear space for truth, and to cleanse the visual field of
complacency. It is anchored by an explicit commitment to figurative principles that serve as a point of entry for
viewers from diverse cultural and aesthetic backgrounds, even when the surrounding elements are abstract.
Whether through myth, stillness, or emotional intensity, I strive to create art that resonates across boundaries;
geographic, temporal, and psychological. I see my pictures as pieces of a puzzle that speak to each other when put
together.