Artist's Statement

When I was a little girl every time I kissed my Mom goodbye before a long day at home, I asked her to bring me “something good” from work. She knew that I didn’t mean candy or toys. Pencils were the sweetest candy in the world for me. I liked the smell of the wood; I liked to touch their glossy surface; and their colors brightened the childhood days of the gray and not so bright reality of the Soviet Union…

Now, after many years I look back at my youth and understand that colored pencils were my shelter; a little miracle that kept the totalitarian machine from killing the uniqueness of my artistic soul. It is little wonder that I chose colored pencils for my primary medium as a professional artist.

Generally, the first question asked by viewers after seeing my artwork for the first time is: “How long does this take?” Yes, it is true that my colored pencil painting takes many long hours from start to finish – sometimes weeks, sometime months. When I answer that question they generally respond with: “You must be a very patient person”. Not really. I think you might call it patience if you were restraining what was natural to you and had forced yourself to do something that you did not want to. I love what I do and can spend endless hours scribbling inch-by-inch, layer-by-layer, enjoying the process all by itself. Colored pencils are like a natural extension to my own body.

I think of myself as an individual, not a follower. That is probably the reason that instead of simply following in the tracks of others, I created my own colored pencil painting techniques. The overall finished look is reminiscent more of oil paintings than what you would expect from a drawing. Using multiple layers of pencil and mineral spirits I cover the surface of the paper and eliminate pencil strokes completely. Colored pencils allow me to have a complete control of the medium and to show the finest details of my subjects. I leave the white of the paper (I use exclusively white paper) for the brightest highlights possible in a composition. The multiple layers of dark colors give depth to the black backgrounds.

If you are familiar with Ukrainian or Russian culture, you may recall bright women’s shawls as one element of the folklore costumes. As a child I was always fascinated with the striking effect of those bright colors on deep black backgrounds. I think about black backgrounds as a symbol of hard reality and bright colors such as those seen in the patterns of a beautiful shawl as challenging it. It is a hymn to Life and the human soul. In my work, as a reminiscence of a child’s vision, I use the highest contrast, brightest colors and seek the most realistic rendering possible for an eye-popping effect. So even a small artwork can attract attention from across the room and really make a statement.

I am an optimist. I think positive. I have faith and I have hope. In my artwork I show the bright side of life and use shadow only to emphasize light. I believe that beauty will save the world. In my small way I am contributing to it by spreading the word in the language I know best - shapes and colors.