I celebrate being part of Nature. Nature, with its organic lines and patterns, overwhelming at times, absorbing the figure, still exists in harmony with us, completing us and creating beauty. I use fish, foods, flowers, plants, insects, and any other creation of Nature to remind us of our connection. I design patterns of light and manipulate movement, tailoring my faces and figures to elicit moods and stories. I often feel like these faces and figures already exist somewhere in the depths of my canvases and papers and I am just their Muse to become visible…
Women is my most compelling and infinite subject: the complexity of our emotional states with always changing moods, feelings, and thoughts, as we evolve through our experiences and interactions. I reveal the depths of our inner worlds through a little glance or turn of the head, or through expressive gestures and drama of hands.
As the creator I am presumably in charge of my art subjects, but the works express their own personalities and purpose. There is always some ambiguity, where the meaning is hidden even from me and where each viewer can tell their own story.
My training as an artist began at a young age, in my hometown, the historic Rostov-Veliky near Moscow, Russia. At the age of 15 I was accepted to study painting and drawing at the Kalinin Art Academy in Moscow. In 1994 I came to the United States to complete my BFA degree at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point. I have exhibited my work in many group and solo shows in Washington DC, Maryland, New York, England, and Virginia, where I now live and work as a professional artist and instructor. I am a recipient of multiple grants from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. My work is in many national and international collections.