BIOGRAPHY
Looking back at my childhood, I vividly remember the fascination the little girl experienced looking at the world around her, nature - people - objects; at the photographs of the paintings of the masters on the pages of her Children’s Encyclopedia and grandfather’s Soviet Encyclopedia; and at the artworks in the State Museum. The fact that she could draw that world on paper fascinated her even more, providing inner calm and happiness.
I was born and raised in Almaty, Kazakhstan, the only child of ethnic Russians. My mother was a philologist, and my father was an engineer. My mother hoped that I would become a doctor, and to fulfill her wishes in the early 1990’s I studied to become a nurse at the Almaty State Medical Institute. During this time I liked to draw pictures of bones, muscles and cells. I was inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci and his medical studies of organs and corpses. However, I never felt that medicine was my calling and I decided not to continue that path. Instead, for a couple of years I decided to add to my studies by learning languages – English (my old passion) and Arabic (because of its beautiful calligraphy).
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The 1990’s was a turbulent time in the newly formed Kazakhstan. With the disintegration of the Soviet Union came chaos and a collapse of living standards. On the other hand, former Soviet citizens were allowed to travel and emigrate. I had an opportunity to move to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. So I did.
There I worked in the fashion industry for a number of years, starting as a salesperson and a visual merchandiser for Max Mara. I felt that I did not belong in the world of fashion in that role - I wanted to create things, not to sell them.
So the way out was to study design… At night I studied graphic design at the University of Dubai for three years. After graduating I got my BA degree in graphic design and worked in a local advertising firm and then for Ogilvy & Mather as a graphic designer and art director. I was involved in developing advertising campaigns and corporate identities. I also did fashion and industrial design for a number of brands. During those years in my spare time I painted with oil paintings in a graphical monochromatic style.
In 2005 I married an American man who was working in Dubai. After our marriage my husband was assigned to work in Tripoli, Libya, and so I moved to Libya with him. We lived there for two years. There I could dedicate more time to studying art and art history, and we often visited London and Rome. I also was painting and drawing more. My older son was born during that time.
In 2007 my husband was offered a job in Almaty, Kazakhstan. We moved to Almaty that year and spent nearly ten years there. I joke that I had to marry an American to return to Kazakhstan.
In 2008-2009 I spent the winter in New York City and attended live drawing classes with Robert Cenedella at the New York Art Student League (January - February 2009)
Our second son was born in Kazakhstan in 2010, and I chose to work as a full time mom for a number of years.
In 2012 in Kazakhstan I met the wonderful female artist Violetta Knutova, daughter of renowned Kazakhstani impressionist Ivan Bondarenko. I liked her artistic style and also her cheerful personality, and I took classes at her studio for a number of years. During those years I shifted to the impressionistic style of painting.
In addition to painting, I still love fashion – wearing it and designing it! In 2013 I founded a brand for children’s clothing. The brand name is Patchy&Catchy and involves elements of original patchwork for each garment.
I also have written and illustrated a short story in Russian "Золотые шары моего 10-го лета" ("The golden fluffs of my 10th Birthday") about my childhood. I arranged for this story to be published in a little book which was a birthday present for my older son.
I participated in several collective shows in Kazakhstan. In June 2017 my first solo exhibition was held in the A. Kasteyev Art Museum in Almaty.
In the summer of 2017 we moved to Raleigh, NC.
With my move to the USA, once again I had to readjust: physically, socially, mentally and, of course, artistically. I rented a studio/gallery in the Carter Building in Raleigh. In my Blue Studio 19 (which is how I named it) I worked on my old projects and on developing new ones as well as private tutoring. There I also held my personal exhibition in 2018.
One of my works was selected for Nude Nights in 2020 just before the COVID lockdown.
The COVID lockdown brought adjustments; so I moved my studio to my house where I have been working since.
The triptych from my patchy series was selected for Artfields show, SC, in 2021.
Also I participated in a number of group shows in Gallery 311, Raleigh, NC from 2020-2023.
My style of execution varies now from freshly finished “alla prima” to more painstaking, multilayered outcome . I also tend to be fluid with genres from portraits to still- lives. In addition, over the last five years I have been experimenting with some abstract and decorative art.
Over 2021 and 2022 I worked on writing and illustrating my second book for children "Пуховые носки" ("Woolen Socks") which is now available to buy on Ridero.
Since 2019 to expand my possibilities as an artist I have taken many workshops with various contemporary artists such as Alia Al-Bermani, Denis Sarazhin, Alex Venezia, Julio Reyes, and JaFung Lu.
To conclude, I would like to express how grateful I am for the natural curiosity and a sense of wonder that life gifts; for everything I had a chance to experience; for my husband and for my sons, who have been my support and my inspiration. I am looking forward to continuing exploring the different aspects of the world and to developing further as an artist, designer and writer.