Artist Statement

I am a Russian artist based between Moscow and Glasgow, exploring roots as the cornerstone of identity.

My work consists of oil paintings on canvas or board, tapping into the historical context of the medium, subverting tradition. 

I work from memory as well as cropped images. I am motivated by themes of immersion and invitation, I am creating a narrative using elements that have significance — points of connection that are derived from recognition. I set stages and choreograph its inhabitants. The challenge is working out that balancing act — creating a world where figures cannot exist without the space and the space cannot exist without the figures.

Contemporary political reality in Russia sees a complete rewriting of history and no one is acting, paralysed in a world of mythologies and nostalgia. Myths do not exist anywhere except cultural memory. It is, however, a ruined and fragmented culture, with accordingly foreign and unfamiliar myths, which breed violence and horror. 

And so I look at traditional fairytales for inspiration.

I am currently studying Painting and Printmaking at the Glasgow School of Art.