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Artist Nelya Akimova (NELYA-NAKI) is an artist who creates spectacular oil-on-canvas images and also works with digital photographic art. The primary goal of her research is to understand how illusionary our reality is and to encourage the audience to view things differently.
What if it turns out that everyone on Earth is an AVATAR and that everything we do is simply a giant game? And we have the power to determine our own fate for the ensuing 100 years? As a result, Nelya Akimova (NELYA-NAKI), an artist, reexamines the reality of the present world in her work and imagines a variety of potential futures for humans as well as AVATARS. "Welcome to the Game on Earth!"
Her works are evocative of the immensity and purity of snowy vistas, which stand in stark contrast to the imposing presence of contemporary concrete construction. Akimova is able to give her compositions a rough, concrete-like feel by using oil on the canvas surfaces of her works.
Figures appear out of the white expanses of paint in Akimova's work, which she creates through an instinctive approach without having any preconceived notions about how the composition would develop. She uses a limited colour scheme and a stark contrast between light and dark to create elegant simplicity. Akimova had a prosperous career in the pharmaceutical sector before deciding to devote her time solely to making art. But she felt compelled to live a life that went beyond the security and predictability to which she had become accustomed. When she started working on her new collection of paintings in Prague in 2018, it marked the beginning of a new chapter in her life.
Visual artist Oxana Akopov is based in Southern California, USA. The primary areas of focus in her multidisciplinary work include installations, art, and photography. In an attempt to engage the audience, she incorporates simplicity, symbolism, and cultural innuendos into her artwork, drawing on her own experiences as an immigrant.
In addition to her training as a journalist, Oxana has experience working in communications for a large international company. Her ability to express her imagination via art is enhanced by these abilities and experiences. Symbols, passion and independence are the guiding principles of her art.
Works by Oxana are held in private collections in Armenia and the United States. In addition to the USA (Miami, New York, California), she has shown in the UK and Greece.
Artist about her work:
My art resembles "Little America." I conduct study on and communicate with the world around me through my work. My installations use an interdisciplinary approach to convey the intended message by fusing aspects of painting and photography. In order to create meaningful images, information must be creatively contextualised in my work. My art is governed by symbols, emotion, independence, and self-identification. Every piece of art turns into a metaphor that enables the observer to always "read" it differently and discover something new in it.
Karin Lanini Arthofer, aka KLA, was born and raised in Switzerland. Having moved to London 10 years ago in search of greater space for her imagination, she now calls it home. Karin has experience in both interior and fashion design, so she lives her life surrounded by art and style. Karin’s work is a natural manifestation of contemporary and abstract art that fits in perfectly with modern settings and functions as a crucial component of the puzzle.
Karin experiments by employing various mediums, such as clay for sculptures, filler, and plaster, in a growth of absorption and thoughts, and with a flowing creative energy. She also enjoys using organic materials that she regards as relevant, such as sawdust, hemp bags, or occasionally sands that have been brought back from particular locations throughout the world. Her works are characterized by a passion that manifests itself in the act of her creative process, a process that mirrors life itself and that, like a circle, ends where it began in the basic complexity of existence. A location where the anticipated irrationality and randomness, as well as the odd and occasionally incompatible materials utilized by Karin, are not perceived as constraints but rather as tools to produce a well-balanced artwork.
Artist about her work:
I enjoy acrylic as well as organic elements like lime, sand, sawdust, and paper and associate them with chalk and colours. The spontaneity and interactions between the materials inspire experimentation and the growth of imagination, which in turn helps me produce my paintings using various stratifications. In my process, I begin with a plain white canvas and add a first layer of modelling paste to give it weight and structure so that later drawings can be done to make sculptures with reliefs that resemble paintings.
My works feature peaks, valleys, cracks, rough and smooth surfaces, and dazzling and opaque parts, and they are reminiscent of aged, eroded walls. An ongoing process leading to a gradual stratification, culminating in the creation of unique works that discover a link between matter and existence, bringing life to this unique universe. They serve as an example of a personal and grounded mapping technique that considers the physical characteristics of the immediate surroundings in order to create an elusive equilibrium.
Victoria Ascanio lives & works in London, UK.
She was born and brought up in Spain. She studied Fine Arts at Madrid University before moving to England. There she studied Printmaking at the Ruskin School of Art in Oxford and was a Founder Member of the Oxford Printmakers Cooperative Association. She has taken part in fairs and exhibitions internationally and her work is in many private and public collections.
Ascanio has been represented by Galeria Gaudí in Madrid for over 15 years and is represented by For Arts Sake Gallery in London, Artifact Gallery and Amsterdam Whitney Gallery in New York and Paks Gallery in Austria and Munich. She is a member of the Printmakers Council.
Tamera Bedford is a Hong Kong - based mixed media artist who is noted for her extraordinary dedication both to her artistic practice and to the nature of her diverse subject matter. Her work turns to visual representation to capture her deep respect for environmental phenomena, and beyond, to biological life and mental flows of the human brain. Her effect is at once to telescope to the micro-elements of these exquisite realms, networks and systems as it is to pull our perspective back to appreciate their superstructures built of exquisite flows, lines and patterns.
Artist Elena Dobrovolskaya was born in Russia and currently resides in New York. After receiving private tuition from renowned artist and distinguished member of the Russian Academy of Fine Arts Oleg Leonov, she began painting in Moscow in 2010. Later, Elena relocated to the US. She joined the International Art Alliance New York in 2012 and is a lifetime member of the Circle Foundation for Arts (France).
Artist about her work:
“First of all I need to say I am a realist. That means I am drawing and painting real objects and people around me. I am a figurative artist concentrated mostly on portraiture. I really believe there is nothing more interesting in nature than a human face. It is always about a character and a story behind it, which is marvellous! In my recent works, I was trying to combine my love for graphics with oil painting – using the dominance of Her Majesty Line to bring a fine silhouette definition on the sole-coloured background. Drawing itself is very important for me as well as color combinations. I am always carefully thinking about it before I start a new portrait because it’s the first thing which attracts a viewer.
Looking at my portraits, people are usually saying something about Gauguin or Van Gogh's resemblance, perhaps because of my colour palette. I do want to say that I found my inspiration in the portraits of late 15th- century German artists like Hans Memling (my favourite), Albrecht Durer, Hans Holbein the Younger and others. They belong to the Northern Renaissance period and have this beautiful elegant simplicity (which is false by the way), a fine silhouette definition on the sole-colored background, triumph and dominance of Her Majesty Line, herefrom they look more like graphic works than oil paintings. I love that, as the drawing itself is very important to me. I started as a graphic artist and brought it into my oil works. Also, their ability to use just a few colours is fascinating and so powerful! It immediately catches the viewer's eye from any corner of the room but when they approach the portrait attracted by Color, they see only the Face, everything else is flickering out... that is Mastery!”
Zdene Flerin is a contemporary artist from Slovenia. His chosen medium is oil on canvas, and he has honed a special method for painting with sharp, precise lines that enable Zdene to portray all the emotions of life and pay homage to it. His work strives for harmony and balance. Zdene depicts complicated human emotions in painting to elicit contemplation and promote serenity through the use of vivid, contrasting hues and strong lines. Zdene's love of art dates back to his early years, but he has spent the last 12 years refining his distinctive oil painting technique and finding inspiration in the works of Gerhard Richter.
Life is an emotional rollercoaster; a colourful masterpiece of rich, diverse, and deep emotions. I paint these emotions as a harmony of colourful stripes, that are enriched with delight or sorrow, and everything in between. says artist about his work.
Visual artist Natasha Freeman (real name: Natalya Ponomoreva ) is a visual artist based in California, San Francisco.
She graduated from St. Petersburg High School of Design and Technologies with a degree in interior design, having followed her genuine calling. She later earned her degree from the Sverdlovsk Art School and began working as a full-time artist. She also studied Renaissance art at Charles III University of Madrid, took an online course on after-war abstract art at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, USA, and participated in a summer academic drawing and painting programme at the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts.
Using impressionist painting techniques, she aims to reinterpret this style in her work, giving it new life and a more contemporary feel. She likes to incorporate symbols into her artwork to elicit thoughts from viewers about issues affecting the current world, such as personal freedom, accountability for our decisions, inner freedom, and overcoming obstacles to achieve it.
Natasha Freeman has shown her work in both solo and group exhibitions in the USA, Italy, France, Greece, Russia and Kazakhstan. Her artworks are in private collections in the USA, Germany, Russia and Kazakhstan. She's a member of the Union of Russian Artists.
It is a conscious choice for every person to be able to recognise the beauty that surrounds them; for me as an artist, it is the ability to create this beauty. The environment around me serves as my source of inspiration. In my artwork, I aim to capture the hues of our stunning surroundings and the feelings it arouses. I find beauty to be like a beast. It is untameable. Only in its untamed state can it be appreciated. Like Dostoyevsky, I firmly believe that "beauty will save the world," so I present it to people as it is.
Peter Görs is a visual artist based in Stralsund, Germany. Born into a milieu of narrow-mindedness, greyness, and artistic restrictions in the summer of 1961 in the former GDR, the artist has always looked for ways to escape creative limitations. In the socialist regime, it was not acceptable to listen to certain "Western music styles". We may understand what it means to work with genuine devotion when we hear his tales of having to travel to more liberal Eastern states and make illicit links with the West to obtain the highly sought-after and rare recordings.
These days, Peter’s art represents one of, if not the most important, aspects of his life, having started out as a modest "sideline". It functions as an additional channel for his spirit of liberation. Initially, the self-taught artist focused mostly on portraiture, which he captured on canvas in his characteristically quirky colour arrangements. He experimented with distinct geometric shapes on vibrantly coloured backgrounds. The motifs will eventually give rise to abstract paintings. Since just the eye and the soul perceive the image, the mind is spared from dealing with figurative subjects when colours and shapes interact to create an aspect of spontaneous glancing. He strongly believes that every piece of art intended for seeing must be framed. For this reason, each picture, be it oil or acrylic, on canvas or thick industrial board, is meticulously and uniquely framed.
In addition to painting, Peter contributes to a Frank Zappa fanzine and plays with the bands STRING THERAPY, BLANCK ZAPPATH, and ZAPPNOISE. As one of its founders, the Frank Zappa periodical "The Arf-Dossier" is a must-read for fans and friends of the renowned "Zappanale" festival in Bad Doberan (see Wikipedia: Zappanale History).
His works are in private collections in the USA, Sweden, Norway, Holland and Germany. He has had multiple exhibitions in Germany and in the UK.
Petra Gruiters holds dual citizenship of the Netherlands and Belgium. Born in the Netherlands, she now calls the vibrant city of Antwerp in Belgium her home. She’s an artist that possesses a strong affinity for capturing the essence of individuals through her remarkable paintings, particularly portraits. Employing a painterly technique and a keen eye for detail, Gruiters skillfully crafts exquisite masterpieces using oil on wood panel or authentic Belgian Linen. Her artistic focus revolves around the captivating strength and delicate nuances of femininity, as she endeavors to encapsulate beauty and vulnerability within her works. Drawing inspiration from the realms of fashion, romance, and the natural world, particularly the enchanting allure of flowers, Gruiters' artistry truly flourishes.
She is a member of the Portrait Society of America, actively contributes to the art community as a board member of Antwerp Colors NPO. This association is dedicated to promoting art and supporting artists. Currently, Petra is pursuing her studies at the esteemed Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. Interestingly, Petra embarked on her artistic journey later in life, following a successful career in Finance. Early in her adult life, she held the position of financial director at a mortgage bank. Later, she ventured into entrepreneurship, establishing her own company as a financial change manager/consultant. After embracing motherhood, Petra reignited her passion for painting, and now she cherishes her decision every day.
Petra's artistic creations have found their place in both private and corporate collections across The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Canada, and Japan. Her talent has been showcased through numerous solo and group exhibitions in The Netherlands and Belgium, garnering recognition in various Dutch newspapers and magazine articles. Additionally, Petra has shared her insights on art through a radio program. Notably, she has skillfully portrayed several individuals, including the Mayor of Gorinchem, The Netherlands.
Artist about her work:
I absolutely adore painting people, especially when it comes to capturing their unique personalities through portraits. My artwork tells a story, weaving together emotions and creating a captivating atmosphere. The tharesonates with me the most is the incredible power and delicate nature of femininity. I strive to capture the essence of beauty and vulnerability in my paintings, using light and color to create a soft and romantic ambiance that invites deep reflection.
In my artistic journey, I find inspiration in the classical painting techniques of the past. I aim to carry on this rich tradition through my own craftsmanship. With a painterly style and a commitment to realistic rendering, I pour my heart and soul into creating stunning works of art. Whether it's oil paint on a wooden panel or real Belgian linen, I ensure that every stroke is a testament to the beauty and complexity of the human form. And to add an extra touch of elegance, I often incorporate beautiful draperies that accentuate the body and delicate flowers that bring a sense of grace to my compositions.
Carine Hayoz is an architect and painter from Bern, Switzerland, who enjoys painting acrylics on canvas. She employs the formal vocabulary of landscape and architecture. She assembles compositions of surface, colour, and light that she artistically abstracts into a singular piece. The range of hues and shapes allows us both our personal interpretations and the unadorned and flawed.
In order to investigate the landscape and architectural components, Carine Hayoz uses atmospheric hues, abstract shapes and lines, accents, and subtle contrasts in her acrylic paintings.
On the square canvases, human forms start to appear more and more, capturing the buildings and landscapes.
She has participated in numerous solo and group exhibits over the past ten years in art galleries in Zürich, Basel, London, New York, Milan, Perugia, and Venice.
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“In every image, I give an unfinished story that the audience is free to add to, imagine, or even remake. Every motion, every position, and every interaction with the environment that the human being in my paintings makes conveys a fresh, insightful tale. "
Nicole Sylvia Javorsky lives and works in her native New York City. Her art is primarily abstract and is a reflection of her own experiences, including her grief, healing process, and observations of nature, research, and daily life. Her mixed media, paintings, and drawings all revolve around the idea of duality. She blends varied textures, colours, and lines with abstraction, organic shapes, portraiture, and text to express various facets of the human experience.
Her work expresses the complexity of life, reflecting the co-existing beauty, agony, and knowledge discovered through survival, healing, mourning, and continually choosing to live. Nicole has endured great darkness; a survivor of sexual abuse, she battled for survival throughout her teens and early adulthood. Each piece of art can stand alone to represent a particular layer or facet of the human experience, but she also constantly organises and ties them together like shifting jigsaw pieces to create a picture of reality that is always evolving.
Nicole has exhibited her artwork at The Other Art Fair, Van Der Plas Gallery, Pelham Art Center, Gallery Clarendon, and others. Her art will also be shown at Clio Art Fair this May and will be featured in an upcoming volume of Studio Visit, a series of juried artist books produced by the publishers of New American Paintings. Her work has sold to collectors throughout the United States, including New York, Texas, and California.
Artist about her work:
"Our lives are interwoven together by the contrasts of darkness and light, change and consistency, stillness and movement. My work emphasises the idea of duality and exemplifies the complexity of life. To depict multiple fragments of human perception, I combine a variety of textures, colours, and lines with abstraction, organic shapes, portraiture, and text. As they embody the healing process, the changes and transformations that are part of existence, duality, and the ability to embrace pain, my works serve as reminders of the magic and beauty of being alive.
As a survivor of sexual abuse, I struggled to keep myself alive during my teenage years and early adulthood. My artwork reflects my own story, healing process, and grief as well as my observations from nature, research, and everyday life. Each artwork can stand alone to depict a particular layer or aspect of the human experience, but I also constantly group and connect them together like fluctuating puzzle pieces to create an ever-expanding picture of existence."
Lesia Kovalenko, known by the pen name Kovalesik, is a self-taught Ukrainian artist whose artistic path diverged unexpectedly from her academic roots. Once an associate professor of world history, Lesia found a new passion for the arts through her fascination with astronomy.
Enthralled by the celestial beauty of the night sky, Lesia immersed herself in the study of astronomy, drawing inspiration from the enchanting allure of constellations. Combining her knowledge of art history with her newfound love for astronomy, she began to infuse her digital paintings with her cosmic fascination.
Lesia's art delves into the intricate relationship between art and science, merging astronomical elements with artistic expression. Each piece reflects her unyielding curiosity about the universe and is a product of her meditative practice.
Through her artwork, Lesia encourages viewers to embark on a voyage through the boundless cosmos, where art and science harmonize in a seamless blend of creativity and exploration.
Artist about her work:
“My creative journey encompasses both traditional graphics and digital media, reflecting my exploration of the world and the introspective path that follows. Currently, I am focused on unraveling the celestial beauty and profound wisdom found within the vast expanse of the sky, stars, and constellations. Ultimately, my aspiration is for my artwork to inspire and encourage viewers to embark on their own quests for knowledge and understanding. By fostering a deeper connection between cosmic phenomena and the individual, I hope to ignite a sense of wonder and curiosity, driving others to explore the intricate interplay between the universe and themselves.”
Káren was born in South Africa and moved to England in her early school years. Passionate about designing and creating, she followed her dreams and studied Graphic Design at Reigate Art College before achieving a Degree in Illustration at Bath Art College. It was during a college trip to New York when she became inspired by the love of the city, strolling under the skyscrapers and the creative turbulence surrounding her that she developed a different form of dimensional art.
She works with different materials mainly centred round polymer clay. Her work ranges from large, highly detailed, and textured pieces showcasing scenes from the modern world to smaller works that focus on her coastal life in Dorset. Káren’s work is both detailed and simple and reflects aspects of her African birthplace, with its love of colour, rhythm, music, and dance. She is inspired by using recycled materials in her work, as can be seen in The Colourful Rush picture where the tube train is created with original tube tickets. Her pieces are vibrant and absorbing. They pulsate with positive energy and present her vision of the world in a colourful, life-affirming light, leaving viewers filled with good vibes.
Over the years, Káren has taken on several commissions from all around the world. The largest to date was a dimensional picture of The Manhattan Skyline. The picture was commissioned just before 9/11 and is currently displayed in a large art-collectors house, in North Carolina, USA. She exhibited at the Salon des Refuses 2019 in London, where her Colourful Rush picture was voted one of the best-liked pieces of artwork by the public viewers. Karen has recently presented her latest unique collection at The New Artist Fair, London 2023.
Káren's future project is to showcase her dimensional art in Miami. She has received commissions from private clients in Australia, Paris, and the USA. A noteworthy commission she completed for The Jon Egging Trust was a Red Arrow Dimensional painting, honouring the pilot who passed away during the 2011 Air Show. Made of polymer clay, the Alpha Nine formation was auctioned off during a celebrity dinner for the Red Arrow Pilots at the Bournemouth Air Show in 2022.
Steven Light AKA SLART is a figurative expressionist artist working and living in Swindon, UK. His work mainly revolves around portraiture and figurative art. He has always loved drawing since early childhood and is drawn to creating people-centric art because he loves the diversity of people, their stories, problems, issues, baggage, quirks, and personalities.
He dropped out of his A-level Art class because of an unsupportive tutor who said, “You can’t draw on a large scale”. Since then, he rekindled his love for art and has painted multiple large-scale murals in his town, produced many works from his studio, and has been part of group exhibitions in the UK and Germany as well as 2 well-received UK solo exhibits. One of the solo exhibitions, Fistula, documented his journey in living with chronic kidney failure.
Artist about his work: "I am a figurative expressionist at heart, who reveals and disarms human issues through my art. Some of my expressions include body image, anxiety, adoption trauma, kidney failure and crippling shyness. I enjoy using large canvases and outdoor spaces to make a big impact. I have been told my style is unique and has something special about it. I certainly agree that it is my own unique style and I let my passion for drawing and painting come through naturally, rather than trying to apply a particular technique. Being self-taught affords me this freedom."
Lucy Meeber (b.2000, Nanjing, China) lives and works in London. Her works unfold from the book art installation, and unite with sculpture, photography, video, performance and etc. She is keen on using the speciality and multiformity of the language of architecture to recall her on-site works and examine from the reading perspective, in order to re-define the intention and directionality of reading.
“Everything is interdependent and mutually influenced.” To reflect and express these ideas, in her most recent works, she highlights the relationships with children, dreams, fairy tales, paper, and books. One of her major research is the senses of books. Engaging with multi-sensory experiences guides her separately and simultaneously to a sense of existence both spiritual and physical. As with the spontaneity of book space — both existing and non-existent during the reading process, her practical work attempts to hunt interrelationships between the inner self and the languages of the physical and symbolic body through clues…
Meeber exhibits internationally and her recent group exhibitions include Afterlives of Empire — Encounters in Art and Academia, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany (2023); Apparition, Fusion Arts, Oxford, UK (2023) and New Look, ShangART Gallery, Nanjing, China (2020). She studied MFA in Fine Art at the University of Oxford and BA in Fine Art and History of Art at Goldsmiths, University of London.
Irina Metz lives and works in Armenia with her family. Her work is a reflection of decades of cross-cultural research that she conducted while completing her doctoral thesis in philology and on several trips throughout the world. It makes sense that Irina's art would reflect her academic interests, which have always been the quest and perception of happiness in literature, history, culture, sociology, and psychology.
Irina studied oil painting under eminent modern impressionists such as Olga Kurilova, Svetlana and Federico Perotti, Igor Raevich, and Grigory Kuznetsov, to mention a few. Irina has modified their methods for transferring elusive moments of joy and beauty to the canvas in order to portray vivid impressions, priceless memories, and vibrant, valued dreams in her works. Numerous esteemed commissions have been given to the artist, including paintings for private collections and five-star design hotels in Asia, the USA, and Europe. Her artwork took home the First Prize at the 2016 Verona, Italy, Art Festival. Irina mostly creates her art in her Yerevan studio and en plein air while she is travelling.
Turbulent times make us strive for eternal values. My paintings are an investigation into how the world is changing as humanity moves from self-destruction to re-creation on the path to the conscious pursuit of Happiness. I am going back to the basics of impressionist painting, to their struggle to freeze moments of feeling, dreams, and recollections. Considering an alternative strategy, I am utilising two theoretically distinct but related media either separately or in combination. Vivid full-bodied images are created with oil colours linking my art to historical traditions of depicting the eternal beauty of humans and nature. Acrylic is a contemporary medium that creates a contrasting synthetic canvas of our lives today, which are characterised by fake news and veiled identities. Both oil and acrylic abstracts serve as valuable supplements to overarching ideas by capturing the deeper sensations and emotions that the outside world arouses in us. The quest of happiness in my art becomes a key to both inner and exterior balance through a combination of timeless and contemporary components. I want my paintings to inspire others to embrace joy, celebrate beauty, and accept life as it is, as well as to assist them get through difficult times.
Liubov Kriuchkova, aka Momalyu, is an interdisciplinary artist based in Slovenia, Europe, who specialises in floral painting and pattern design. Her entire career has been centred around design and creativity. She was educated at the School of Fine Arts and she has a successful background in the furniture industry and interior design, along with a professional education in design.
Liubov was born in Siberia, and she has been painting ever since she was a young child. She has used painting to express her feelings and emotions. When she painted interior design projects for her clients, that's when she gained her first significant clientele. Then, after moving to Thailand in 2015, she gave everything up to pursue professional career in arts. The fragrant nature of Asia gave her works and paintings an air of warmth and sunlight. She is currently living and working as an artist in Slovenia and her art focuses on the relationship between nature and humanity. In addition to collaborating with several companies to create original prints and patterns for textiles and wallpaper, she is working on a new series of paintings. These days, she mostly paints scenes from nature, a theme that permeates both her artistic and commercial endeavours.
Liubov takes part in regular exhibitions and she exhibited her works in Slovenia and Czech Republic . Her works are in private collections in Thailand, China, Australia, USA, Canada and Europe.
"Love (translate Liubov) is who I am. That's my name, and that's how I investigate and reinterpret the world I live in. In the fast-paced world of today, I have a great desire to keep my inner equilibrium and shine a light on other people. Through contemplation of the beauty of nature and connection with it, my art serves as a means of reestablishing a connection with my true beginning and highlighting all that is good and good in myself and others.
Thinking about how the sun's rays open up nature, I see a lot of similarities between how our souls open up to love and transform. Using natural materials, I thus create light and harmony in my paintings. The Impressionists' use of a solar palette and their capacity to capture the fleeting moment of the present speak to me in this way.
"Know yourself - and you know the world," the ancient sages said, and these are not just words to me. My creativity is an extension of my worldview and a means of self-discovery. I express my sense of oneness with nature on canvases using oil paints that appear noble and deep to me. Their natural colours - earthen - represent support, and green - energy of growth, development, and harmony. According to Galen, "Nature is the highest wisdom embodied."
Nick Munier was born in 1967 in England. He resides in both France and the UK.
As a Masterchef judge and manager in the Hell's Kitchen TV series for nearly 30 years, in addition to working on several independent productions, Nick decided to leave the restaurant industry in 2020 to focus on his true artistic passion.
Nick's work has already achieved enormous success. You can find his art hanging in homes, apartments, hotels, and offices All around the UK and Ireland. His stunningly bold and vibrant artwork has the ability to capture the audience's attention.
His art is a colourful abstract expression that can easily catch the viewer's attention. He has been able to disconnect from the outside world through painting and express himself on canvas. He draws inspiration from everyday objects, colours, sounds, locations, and people's attire. Sam Francis, Yves Saint Laurent, and Basquiat have all influenced him. He finds abstract art particularly appealing because the final product is never predetermined during the creative process.
Inna Nikolaieva was born in Ukraine and now lives in Vienna, Austria. She graduated from the Dnepropetrovsk Academy of Construction and Architecture with a degree in Architecture. For several years she worked as an architect at a research institute in Dnieper. She specialized in icon painting, decorative arts and interior design. Her background includes 27 years of teaching as well as interior design and decoration.
Inna studied the colour theory of Gerhard Wagner, a Swiss artist, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. She started teaching sculpture, painting, and art history when she was 33. The International Waldorf Pedagogical Association awarded her a diploma, and she also led seminars for drawing and modeling instructors. She also collaborated with contemplative artists from Germany, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the CIS after finishing the first series of paintings. Inna arranged group exhibitions and took part in the founding of the OST-WEST Society of Artists. Inna established the Goethe Art Studio and coordinated plein-airmodelling events.
Having received stage training at the Academy of Eurythmy, she participated in eurythmy performances and explored the relationship between different forms of art. She also notably implemented a project with the Ukrainian theatre “Potoki” in Dnieper. In 2022, due to the conflict in Ukraine, she had to leave her homeland and move to Austria. This crisis event became a turning point in her life and had a huge impact on her creative expression.
Inna's works are in private collections around the world, including the USA, Greece, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Ukraine. She exhibited her works in Ukraine, Russia, Switzerland and Austria.
Anna Novakov is a Serbian-American artist, writer and curator whose practice focuses on the transitory modalities of the textiles and olfactory arts. As an artist and certified perfumer, Novakov to is able unpack events through a multisensory artistic lens by examining seemingly inconsequential things, such as the smells of outdoor markets and historic recipes.
While her creative practice focuses on intricate hand needlework and conceptual perfumery she is also invested in the role of scent and touch in the construction of personal and collective memories, fragrance as an aspect of Utopian societies and cooking as a socio-political act. The author of dozens of books, articles and exhibition catalogues, Novakov focuses on emerging technologies and their impact on sensory perception. She has curated numerous group and individual exhibitions across the United States and Europe.
Artist about her work: "Private Diaspora is an ongoing series of hand needlework pieces that tap into my own identity as a Serbian-American artist. Born in Belgrade, (then Yugoslavia) and moving to California as a child, I carry the memories and sensory heritage of my homeland. This diasporic displacement is the main inspiration for my creative practice."
Self-taught figurative painter Modupe Odusote is originally from Nigeria. She was raised in Lagos and is a Southern Nigerian Yoruba ethnic tribe native to Nigeria.
She has been a resident of the United States since 2008, and in that time, as a professional in human capital and organisation development, she has had the chance to live and work in other countries such as South Africa and Ghana. She is also actively involved in non-profit work that promotes the empowerment of women throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on those living with HIV and encouraging good mental health habits. She frequently engages with issues regarding representation, human aspirations, self-identity and actualization, internal growth struggles and equity.
Ann Palmer lives in Rochester, Kent. After a long and successful career as a Public Health Doctor, Ann took up drawing and painting in 2007.
Ann spends her holidays in the Loire Valley in France, or in Cornwall where she enjoys the landscape of West Penwith, the rugged coastline and the sandy beaches.
Ann looks to the coasts and landscape of Kent and Cornwall for inspiration, often painting standing on the pebbly beach of Whitstable, watching the tide ebb and flow, the morning mist across the water, the light on the horizon, the clouds coming in from the west over London, and the light out to sea to the north and east. The low tide exposes sandbanks, pebbles, and seafood for the gulls to seek. Her work is inspired by her experience standing in the landscape, on the seashore and Plein air painting, immersing herself in the environment, getting to know the landscape, the colours and the essential mood. When she is in the studio her memories play an important part in working up a painting; the palette knife takes over, carefully placing the colours juxtaposed with each other resulting in a more abstract form of the seascape and not representative of any particular shoreline.
Ann works in OILS, using both brush and palette knife often producing highly textural, layered work. Her subject is principally land, sky and seascapes, often working directly out of doors in front of the scene. Her larger paintings are developed n in the studio from her experiences en Plein air, sketches and photographs. Her work is influenced by such artists as Kurt Jackson and Joan Eardley. Ann is currently working on a series of landscape paintings inspired by the contours of the North Kent Downs and the colours of the harvest.
Parjam Parsi was born in 1988 in Tehran. He currently resides in Yerevan , Armenia. He works in a variety of media. He is also a multi-instrumentalist, producer, audio engineer, and composer who is renowned for his mastery of several instruments and creative control.
Ha has created numerous abstract works using acrylic, mixed media, and ink drawings. He appreciates physically involving the viewer and holds fast to the belief that function comes before form in a work of art in order to address a variety of themes in a multi-layered manner. In his works, reality and fiction intersect, well-known analogies diverge, meanings change, and the past and present converge. Memory and time are always crucial. Using a lyrical and usually metaphorical vocabulary, he frequently creates several works that are practically identical and allow for the expression of opinions. By developing compositions or settings that produce serene poetic images that leave traces and balance on the edge of recognition and alienation, Parsi uses a conceptual approach to heighten the spectator's surprise.
Irina Pashina is an upcycling artist who creates expressive, three-dimensional works of art out of recycled materials such as textile, cardboard, cellophane, and plastic bags. She is an advocate for waste recycling, consumption restraint, and environmental protection. She was born in 1976 In Russia's Voronezh. In 2022, she moved to Turkey, where she currently resides.
Irina just had the chance to basically start over in her life after migrating to Turkey and defying all prejudices. She understood that she could start painting and realize her long-cherished ambition. Her early paintings were surrealistically inspired abstractions, which made it possible to decipher the concealed feelings and messages. The artist became convinced that she could and should do more for herself, for every person, and for the earth as a whole as she was discovering who she was.
"Are aliens already here?" she wondered after reading a scholarly article about an enormous patch of trash drifting in the ocean where "aliens" — living microorganisms that shouldn't be there — have already manifested. Several areas of our globe, including the oceans and outer space, are already inundated with tonnes of trash. This is how the "Ocean" series, the first collection of recycled art pieces, came to be. In her work, the artist has incorporated objects like cartons, cellophane, fabric, and other extraneous materials. Despite include "trash" in the composition, she intends to use abstraction and texture in this series of paintings to capture the beauty of the ocean. The artist creates his three-dimensional, one-of-a-kind paintings using a hybrid combinatorial process.
In 2023, Irina won “ALL Abstraction” competition in the MIXED MEDIA AND THREE DIMENSIONAL category organized by Contemporary Art Gallery Online. She has had several exhibitions in Turkey and USA and her works are in private collections worldwide.
Artist about her work: “I want people to reflect about the future of our shared home and be inspired to consume much less by combining the entrancing vivid beauty of water with incompatible "rubbish" in my paintings of this series. Every admirer of beauty who purchases one of my creations is already doing their part to keep the earth as pristine as possible for as long as feasible.”
Maria Petroff is a self-taught figurative artist living between two countries: Russia and Canada. Originally from Moscow, Maria moved to Canada in 2009 to study Business Administration at the University of Quebec in Montreal. The artistic flair of the «North American Montmartre» inspired the future artist to get back to her childhood passion - painting. Shortly after finishing her studies, Maria decided to pursue a career in art.
Maria defines her artistic style as critical realism. She likes to paint people who marked our history whether they are politicians, scientists, artists, philosophers or fictional characters. The artist gets inspired by today’s world events, trying to thoroughly study the other non-official side of the story. Digging deep into history makes her come up with the subjects for paintings that depict long forgotten historical events and draw parallel with the present. Spiced up with light humor her works are addressing contemporary social and political issues.
Maria takes an active part in international art contests and exhibitions. The artist created book covers for a renowned author and economist, V. Katasonov. Recently one of her paintings was featured in the Swiss weekly magazine Die Weltwoche.
Diane Ponder is an American painter, digital photographer, sculptor, and videographer. She was born in Virginia and spent her early years in Missouri canoeing, hiking, cliff climbing, and swimming. She started reading early and read a lot. She has travelled much and lived in many other countries as well as states including Maine, Pennsylvania, and California. She currently has a live/work space in Evanston and a studio in Chicago. Additionally, she has had exhibitions of her work all around the world, and some of the most notable collections she is a part of include an Irish castle.
Diane has participated in numerous shows with the gallery in New York and Los Angeles as well as at the Gabriel Fine Arts Gallery in London. She additionally took part in the Hyperkewl collaborative initiative at the international MDW and Axis fairs. She participated in group exhibitions at the La Mama Gallery in New York and the JMC Gallery in Hells Kitchen in October and November 2021, respectively. She was a featured artist in the drive-through Eco Art presentation at Gateway Technical College in Racine, Wisconsin. She also participated in the 100th-anniversary members' show of the Oak Park Art League.
Locally, her work has been shown at Navy Pier, Grant Park, and Oak Park; globally, it has been shown at Vinalhaven and The Rockford Gallery in Rockford, Maine. She exhibited her work in the New York Art Expo, the Art Center in Orinda, California, and internationally at the first abstract art exhibition in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where she was the sole female artist. Her most notable exhibitions were Aqua Art Miami, Art Expo NYC, Chicago, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, and Singapore; Art on Paper; Chicago New Materials Art Fair; Verge Art Fair in Miami, Florida; and New York; as well as at the Hyde Park Art Center, Not Just Another Pretty Face; the 47th Ward Alderman's Office, which also hosted the 2014 1+1 show; Chicago multiples; and the Chicago Art Department.
Articles regarding Diane's work have appeared in the Oak Park Wednesday Journal, NBC, and the Chicago Tribune. The Living Room Gallery was an interdisciplinary art venue run by Diane. She collaborated with the artist collective Art House, and one of her pieces was featured in a PBS documentary about an art show that benefitted the women's shelter Sarah's Inn. Diane exhibited the Mark di Suervo sculpture "The Peace Tower" at both the Lincoln Park Art Fair and the Chicago Cultural Center. She also created a Peace Tower, which was used at numerous events to exhibit children's artwork. In addition, she supported an eco-art group by taking part in the Chicago Creative Expo at the Cultural Center. The Clio art fair, Blue Gallery, and Art St. Gallery all showcased her in September 2022.
Garegin Protopopov was born in 1979 in Moscow, in a family of hereditary artists and architects. He resides and works in Tenerife, Spain's Canary Islands.
Garegin pursued his studies in jewellery creation at the Carl Faberge Lyceum of Decorative and Applied Arts in Moscow, Russia. He studied art history and art theory at the Moscow State University of Fine Arts named after S.G. Stroganov, where he received his degree in 2002. He then spent several years working in the stained-glass studios of Alexander Popov and Vladimir Mikhailov, where she assisted in the restoration of the Novoslobodskaya metro station's stained-glass windows in Moscow, Russia. The artist was also engaged in mosaic production. Namely, he participated in the restoration of mosaics of most pavilions of the VDNKh Expo Centre in Moscow, Russia and created mosaic decorations for the St. Sava Cathedral in Belgrade, Serbia. Notably, he is also a co-founder of "Goldsmalt," a company that produces coloured and gold jewelry.
In 2023 he decided to devote himself to painting and creativity, where he connects his love for colour and beauty with all the experience accumulated over the years of working with noble metals, stone and coloured glass. His works are in private collections in Spain, Greece, Russia. He exhibited in the UK, Russia, USA, Spain and Italy.
As an artist, he reinvents his world. This is what he says about his work: “My themes are self-discovery through connecting with the beauty of this World. Landscapes and their fragments, caught at the point of revealing their beauty, details, the essence of things, their design, fractal structure and the logic of lines reveal to me the world of perfect proportions, integrity and infinite harmony.”
Chris Riggs for Mayor is contemporary NewYork City artist, whose art works are based on a unique combination of cubism, abstract, surrealism, minimalism, pop and street art has made him a leading artist of his generation. His paintings and sculptures are in museums, galleries, and private collections in over 50 countries.
Beata Maria is a visual artist and art curator residing in London. She completed an MA in Image and Communication from Goldsmiths, University of London, under the mentorship of Nigel Perkins. Her research connects the arts, science and philosophy through a series of projects. She enjoys exploring light and colour theories, visual perception, art symbolism and cultural studies as part of her independent research.
Artist about her work: “Art, and especially visual art, is always depended upon the act of seeing. Artists throughout the ages have always been passionately interested in visual perception in all its forms and optics. My experimentation with painting within still and moving image is constantly inspired by the nature of light, time and motion. I perceive light as a living substance, eternal and ever-changing. My work can be very experimental, however, I constantly research the history of arts and photography through the ages. “
Bea Schubert, born in 1959, is not just an artist who has travelled the world, but one who has truly internalized its essence. Her artistic journey began at the University of Fine Arts in Braunschweig, Germany, where she studied under Professor Hermann Albert and honed her painting skills.
However, the pivotal moment in her career came post-graduation when she chose to diverge from the traditional path and embarked on a seven-year backpacking adventure around the globe. This expedition was more than just a thrill; it was a pursuit of light and colour in a world often shrouded in darkness, a search for happiness and vibrancy amidst global turmoil. This profound experience moulded her artistic perspective and eventually led her back to her true passion: painting.
It was here that she discovered her unique style and coined the term "AbstractPop," a perfect representation of her art. Bea blends vivid neon hues with everyday objects to craft pieces that radiate the sheer joy of life. Her fondness for large canvases enables her to create a visual impact that mesmerizes onlookers. The central theme of her work revolves around childhood.
With studios in Nienburg, Germany, and the sunny Spanish island of Mallorca, Bea Schubert has garnered international acclaim. Her pieces are showcased in galleries and esteemed art exhibitions worldwide. The accolades she has received from prestigious institutions like the German Embassy in Athens and the Chagall Museum in Vitebsk, Belarus, are truly remarkable. Moreover, her creations have found homes in significant international collections.
Looking ahead, Bea harbours ambitious dreams. She aims to exhibit her art in museums and public spaces in Mallorca, spreading her vision of a more vibrant, colourful world. Bea Schubert is not just an artist; she is a visionary who, through her art, enriches the world with more liveliness and colour.
Artist about her work:
My artistic expression is a rebellion against the dreariness of the everyday, a manifesto for the joy and wonder of childhood. In my works, I create a world where lightheartedness and imagination reign, where colors come alive, and hope and courage assume a tangible form.
Each of my paintings is an invitation to let yourself be swept away by the power of optimism. They are meant to lift and inspire the soul: Don’t just dream you dreams. Live them, boldly!
In my works, you will find a colorful oasis that will motivate you to discover your own, unique story. I want you to be the hero of your life, surrounded by a world infused with joy, hope, and boundless energy.
Maya was born in 1973 in Sylhet, just after Bangladesh's civil war. She moved to the UK with her family in 1977 and she has been a resident ever since. Being a self-taught artist, she portrays the essence of cultures in her work, highlighting the beauty in our differences and the connections we all share.
Maya became passionate about painting at a very young age, and she now uses art as a form of self-expression. At the age of seven, she was encouraged to enter the national UK painting competition conducted to commemorate Prince Charles and Lady Diana's royal wedding, and as a result, she won the competition, which was judged by Her Majesty the late Queen. It is important to mention that Maya's father, an immigrant who founded his own business, had a significant impact on her and greatly encouraged her to achieve success. Many of her father's restaurants had her debut artwork on display and thanks to this she then attracted commissions from other businesses to create paintings for their restaurants and started selling her art.
Maya’s journey from a young immigrant to a successful artist, TV presenter, and tech leader has been shaped by her passion for art, resilience, and determination. Despite facing personal challenges, she has consistently pursued her artistic endeavours, leaving a mark in various industries including Design, Media, Fashion, Finance and IT. Unfortunately, in 2022, Maya lost her close friend who had been struggling with her mental health for years under extremely tragic circumstances. This caused her to reevaluate her life, and she took the decision to pursue her passion for art in honour of her close friend, who was the largest supporter of her work. Since then Maya has chosen to participate in the Weybridge Visual Arts Festival, where her artwork was displayed in several Weybridge locations, including the famed Oatlands Park Hotel. After being chosen for the Surrey Moving Arts Festival, a producer hired Maya to create a drawing for the director Steve McQueen, the actors Paul Weller and Saoirse Ronan, and the film Blitz. Presently, Maya's artwork may be seen in the prominent Edward Alexander Group-affiliated Collier Webb showrooms on Pimlico Road and Chelsea Design Centre. She has also held her first successful solo exhibition at Walton-on-the-Thames' Robert Phillips Gallery, which honoured her dear friend who passed away after years of mental health struggles.
Maya's artwork is visually engaging and carries a powerful message of empowerment for women. Her paintings are a testament to the strength, resilience, and beauty of women all over the world. As an artist, Maya recognizes that art is subjective; that is why she works in a collaborative and engaging process with clients when working on bespoke pieces of work. Maya wants people to enjoy and connect with the art. It allows her to take people on her journey, so they are part of creating art that is truly personal, meaningful and something they can treasure forever.
Artist about her work:
“My latest work explores the potential of layering in mixed media to build depth of colour, texture and story. I love experimenting and creating something unique. I am fascinated with the power of colour and how it can evoke emotions. This leads to bold, vibrant pieces to fill any space with joy and wonder!”
Egor Shokoladov, who is originally from a small, quaint town in Eastern Europe, has been using painting to convey his ideas and perceptions of the world for as long as he can remember.
He studied in the School of Fine Arts, in the Lyceum's art-focused class, at Yanka Kupala State University's Master of Arts programme, where he specialised in Visual Art and Computer Graphics, and at many artist residencies. Through his creative journey, Egor has discovered the style and methods he most enjoys using to create his works: metamodernism translated in graphics, applied to vintage printmaking methods, and experiments with mixed media and materials.
In 2020, Egor has moved to Washington, United States. Since then his work has been a part of the Artist Showcase at the Northwind Arts Center in Port Townsend and more recently has been added to the Contemporary Printmaking Art Inventory at the Davidson Galleries in Seattle and has been displayed at the Wild Side Gallery in Port Angeles.
In 2022, Egor’s art was presented in a solo exhibition at PUB Gallery of Art of Peninsula College in Port Angeles and he participated in more than 30 selected group exhibitions and juried shows all over the United States. In addition, 3 of his works were selected for public art projects in the state of Washington. His most recent successes include 3 People’s Choice Awards at the juried exhibitions at Northwind Arts Center in Port Townsend, WA, 2nd Prize Award in the Category "Prize of the Jury” at Deutsche Exlibris-Gesellschaft eV (DEG) International Competition 2022 in Moers, Germany, and 3rd Place Winner at the juried show at d’Art Center in Norfolk, VA.
Egor is an official member of the California Society of Printmakers (CSP), Southern Graphics Council International (SGCI), Society of American Graphic Artists (SAGA) and Colored Pencil Society of America (CPSA). His work can be found in galleries, museums and private collections in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, China, the United States, France, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Russia, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine.
John currently lives and works in the West Midlands, UK. He trained as a graphic designer at St Martin’s School of Art, London before going on to establish his own successful design and print business. In 2000, having achieved the goals he had set himself in business, he set off on a new career path, establishing himself as a fine artist and going on to successfully exhibit and sell his work nationally.
He is inspired by the challenges faced by the natural world and strives to produce creative work that has honesty and originality at its heart and in its execution. Skilled in a wide range of media, he endeavours to take a fresh approach to produce highly original works that incorporate such diverse materials as Polyfilla, powder paint, ash, oil on glass or recycled melamine in his paintings and recycled cardboard and papier-mache in his 3D sculptural work.
In this curated series of his work, he aims to provoke the observer into seeing beyond the initial colourful, surreal urban jungle imagery and to question our responses to the challenges facing our world.
Cecilia Sjölund studied architecture at Stockholm's KTH Royal Institute of Technology and has worked as an architect and project manager in urban development for many years. She now lives in Stockholm, Sweden, and works fulltime
as a painter.
She employs organised pictures as source imagery and works with oil painting in a realistic traditional manner. Her work has been accepted into the Nordic Portrait Now 2021 competition in Denmark, as well as the London Art Biennale 2021. She has been shortlisted for Visual Art Open UK 2021 and her painting "A shadow of my former self" was featured at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2022.
Dalia Slep was born in Lithuania and raised there. For a while, she experimented with pouring techniques and sketching realistic artworks. She's discovered that abstract art allows her to express herself and her emotions. She became immersed in abstract painting.
Dalia Slep is a current Morley College London student. Alicante, Fuerteventura, Genoa, Milan, Madrid, Monaco, Venice, and London have all hosted exhibitions of her work. Dark Yellow Dot, an artist-run site, has been chosen an artist of the month. In addition, one of her paintings has been selected for the London Art Biennale 2021.
Arron Sturgeon is an artist and musician living and working in San Diego, California. Born in Saigon, Vietnam and raised in Southern California, Arron draws inspiration from both Western and Eastern traditions of art from calligraphy and scroll landscape painting to abstract expressionism and conceptual art. Arron creates “conceptual abstract paintings”. Every series of paintings explore a specific idea and theme but all within a non-representational visual language.
In the “Form Follows Force” series, a design principle where form follows the flow of forces, rather than function, layers of semi-dry encaustic paint are violently scraped from the surface using large paint removing devices (the force). The remnants serve as the underlying structure which is then reworked and reconstructed into unexpected and dynamic compositions. The “form” articulates the “force” of the destructive act and is a metaphor for the destructive/creative force of nature and evolution.
In the “Geometric Theurgy” series, monist metaphysics is expressed through the process of hypostasis from the “one” to the “many” through a symbolic geometric system based on the principles of the golden ratio and music theory. Inspired by the mysticism of the Pythagoreans and Neoplatonists, compositional dice rolling games of Mozart and the “Le modulor final” of Le Corbusier, this geometric system also uses chance, color, ratio and patterning to code colour and generate unique musical compositions in Sonata form. These paintings are “musical paintings” and can be both seen and heard.
Oscar is a self-taught travel and landscape photographer living in Devon. Over the past decade, he spent much of his time travelling, working and living in Asia, during which time he became increasingly interested in capturing his experiences through photography. He has had pictures published in publications and contests, including the UK-based Travel Photographer of the Year contest. He is also the author of an online photography guide to Shanghai and a contributor to a range of stock agencies, including Getty Images and 4CornersImages.
“I enjoy the more meditative aspects of photography - the moments I’m able to slow down, be fully present and aware of my surroundings. The challenge of capturing a good image is the best way I can think of to explore new places, or even enjoy locations that are more familiar."
Kathlene Tracy's artwork is a culmination of an in-depth understanding of human behaviour and interest in art as a medium for expression that is able to transcend many of the barriers of other forms of communication. She began art classes at the same time as beginning school winning National Juried Competitions at very young ages and also pursued higher education for understanding human behavior holding faculty appointments at Yale University, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and other prestigious academic institutions while sustaining dual careers in psychology and the visual arts fields. Within New York City she has participated in multiple solo and group exhibitions of her work and is now exhibiting in London. In addition, her work is included in both public and private collections.
Emily Traynor is an abstract painter living in Somerset, UK, with her partner, three children and the family dog. Her work has been quietly developing since she graduated from the University of Plymouth in 2014 with a BA(Hons) in Fine Art, having written her thesis on prehistoric imagery. Traynor studied under a North American Shaman for several years and continued this as a philosophical enquiry and lifestyle while supporting young people with mental health challenges to discover their creativity. Traynor’s practice is fluid, and energetic and speaks of the depths of a spiritual practice that evolved with and through her art. Her mark-making is reminiscent of archaic and indigenous art and utilises a language in which humans have expressed themselves throughout millennia. Traynor describes her work as, “speaking without words”.
Traynor’s work illustrates a fluid, organic communication that softly draws together the layers of our existence, in a dynamic yet ethereal frame.
Traynor’s work has been exhibited in group shows at the Truman Brewery in London, chosen to represent the Plymouth University Fine Arts degree and been on display at business and hospitality venues in Somerset. Private collectors reside in the USA, Canada, Italy and Hong Kong as well as the UK and include prominent actors and sportspeople.
Artist about her work:
"Abstract art is a way of connecting authentically with ourselves, our environment and others in the experience of being human. There are no expectations, judgements, or limitations; just a few moments of ‘aliveness’, prompted by a piece of visual art.
My work explores our deeply interwoven connections. My love of the earth, music and the sacred gift of motherhood may be visible to those who feel these themes in their own lives. For others, I hope that my work gives them a moment to stop, breathe, and reconnect with the things that represent strength and peace for them."
Renalli is a highly accomplished Filipina Abstract Expressionist Artist and Entrepreneur from Manila, Philippines. Born in 1992, she discovered her profound passion for the arts at the tender age of five, exploring the realm of creativity through the use of pens, paints, and brushes. Her unwavering dedication to the field of arts and design led her to successfully complete her studies in Multimedia Arts at the esteemed De La Salle College of St. Benilde in Manila.
Following her academic pursuits, Renalli embarked on a professional journey, securing employment and eventually establishing her Creative and Marketing agency, Artzap Studio. However, amidst her entrepreneurial endeavors, she realized an inherent yearning to immerse herself in the hands-on process of transforming her ideas into tangible artwork. Thus, she embarked on a new chapter in her career, dedicating herself to painting. Through her artwork, Renalli achieved a harmonious balance between her work and personal life and found a medium to express her profound life experiences, travels, and emotions.
Renalli's artistic style is characterized by the intricate use of heavy textures in her acrylic paintings, which allows her to delve deeper into the realm of shadows, light, space, and form. This technique bestows a heightened perspective, enabling her to symbolize natural elements such as water, sky, sand, rocks, and other subjects that draw inspiration from her journey and worldly encounters. Despite the abstract nature of her work, viewers often find themselves resonating with the overall emotional resonance evoked by her paintings.
Renalli's artistic talent has been recognized through numerous exhibitions in prominent cities within Metro Manila, Philippines. Additionally, she was privileged to showcase selected artworks in New York City, USA, in May 2023. Renalli's artwork is highly sought after by private and corporate collectors who appreciate the enriching aesthetic her pieces bring to their homes and commercial spaces. Notably, she has actively participated in charitable initiatives such as the Manila Art For A Cause, wherein she generously donated three paintings for auction, with proceeds benefiting the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) during the peak of the 2020 pandemic.
Renalli stands as one of the rising stars among abstract artists in the Philippines, with ambitions that extend beyond Asia's borders. Her unwavering determination propels her to continuously strive for greater accomplishments on a global scale with each passing year.
Artist Olga Vishnevetskaya specialises in digital art, soft sculpture, and painting. She was raised in Tomsk, Western Siberia, by a family of scientists after being born in the Russian city of Ukhta in the Komi Republic. She first attended a children's art school before continuing her education in an adult art school. She earned her degree in 1989 from the Faculty of Philology at Tomsk State University with a major in Russian language and literature and a concentration in modern play.
Following graduation, she spent five years designing sets for a children's theatre company. She was tasked with making sketches for the scenography and costumes as well as designing the visual idea for the productions. She later performed design work as a layout designer for a company that produces POS materials. She earned her second degree from Tomsk State University in 2003. This time, she majored in public relations with a focus on corporate image from the Faculty of Psychology. She competed in a student PR competition called "Crystal Orange" while she was a student and won the regional round.
She spent the following 10 years working for two different trading companies, first as the director of development for a trading firm and then as the head of the educational and methodological department of an insurance company. She also worked at this period as a freelance business consultant, managing projects to develop corporate identities for numerous businesses.
Olga has been refining her artistic skills since 2013, initially in the field of soft sculpture, and more recently in painting and digital collage. She has taken part in both regional and international exhibitions throughout her artistic career.
Artist about her work: “As an artist, I developed my skills from a very early age, easily transitioning between the real world and the world of fantasies. The boundaries were blurred, and characters and events from these two worlds merged. Later, as I grew up and began to read, I learned that this was called imagination.
The strength of my imagination distorts the perception of reality, and this became my creative foundation. I am not interested in imitating reality or reproducing familiar objects and phenomena, so I have no landscapes, portraits, or historical connotations in my work. On the other hand, my works are not symbols or metaphors - they are simply worlds. I do not claim that they are grand or significant, I am simply interested in exploring them.
Recently and currently, I have been influenced by images of the North, perhaps generously supplied to my imagination by my ancestors - the Pomors. I use painting and even begin to see a certain totemism of objects on the canvas as an unconscious desire to give as much significance as possible to the treasure that is starting to elude us.
I work in the genres of painting and soft sculpture. In sculpture, I am interested in the magic of the emergence of a volumetric object from a flat material. In painting, the inspiring moment becomes the ability to manipulate colour freely. I find it fascinating that no matter what medium I use, I observe moments of demonstrative accentuation in my works, apparently to attract the viewer like a flower attracts a bee and multiply the meanings created in them.”
Sculptor Maritta Winter was born in South Germany, close to Freiburg. She is of dual nationality, German and Swiss. She lived in Germany and France for a while before relocating to Switzerland in 2011 and is now residing not far from Lake Zurich. She attended various art, sculpture, and design schools in France, Germany, and Switzerland. Maritta Winters' body of work consists of sculptures, photography, screen printing, mesh relief, and, beginning in 2022, colourful 3-dimensional coloured vibrating wall objects.
Maritta Winter finds inspiration in her instinctive sense of movement, architecture, and form. The joining of two volumes and the expanding movement that appears to swing into the space are reoccurring themes in her collection of work. She says her intuition comes to her in shapes. This has to do with feeling—intuitively recognising volumes, edges, and shape transitions. Identifying the precise location where the shape's outline reaches perfection is likewise a visual process.
Her sculptures are known for their blend of movement and architectural forms, which has resulted in many of them being exhibited in public spaces and structures. While Rendez-vous (2006) soars out into the landscape like a bird in front of the Grand Ballon hotel in France's Vosges mountains, and Zen (2009) creates a meditative oasis in the stairwell of the Finnova AG building in Lenzburg, Switzerland, the soft curves of the work Skydream (2011) contrast with the austere, functional architecture of the lobby of the Prime Tower in Zurich. Every sculpture is obviously massive. They are expressive beings that occupy their own area and blend in with the natural environment and surrounding architecture.
For Maritta Winter, dynamics are just as inspiring as nature. She once said: “If I hadn’t become a sculptor, I would have been a dancer.” Even for someone who is uninformed of her dancing training and current practice, the relevance of motion and music in her sculptures is obvious. A piece of her art swings into the room with perfect balance, arms lifted, like a dancer whirling on the spot. In a strict sense, the significance of movement is derived from nature just as much as the shape of a plant seed or a person's body. Maritta Winter's works are carried by the fundamental human expression of dance, which she views as a hidden force that drives her creative process.
Carol Tippit Woolworth, a Santa Barbara native, earned a bachelor's degree in studio art from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1977, where she studied under Priscilla Bender Shore and Irma Cava. She came to New York City in 1983 and founded Tippit Woolworth Design, a graphic design business with her husband, where she served as creative director while keeping an art studio practise. She began teaching painting privately after moving to Connecticut and subsequently Wilmington, Delaware. She also led painting workships to the South of France for several years and illustrated her husband's books about corgis. She and her husband, Olle, currently reside in Santa Fe.
Carol's art has been influenced by the Bay Area Abstract Figurative painters as well as Nicolas de Stal, a French mid-century painter. Carol's painting quest has been to layer, scrape, and scumble her oils, oil sticks, and cold wax to reach primordial, universal truths. She works with linen, wood panels, metal, and occasionally Arche oil paper. She is enthralled by the concept of pentimento and now paints an underpainting first, which is then repainted, allowing fragments of the underpainting to seep into the entire piece, resulting in an archaeology of concepts.
Carol has received various awards and grants, and in 2016 she was appointed as a guest curator at the Delaware Art Museum. She's also taught several seminars at the Howard Pyle Art Group in Wilmington, DE, and spent years at the Delaware College of Art and Design teaching Graphic Design and Painting (CE). She's been featured in Visual Magazine, American Art Collector Magazine, and Southwest Art, as well as advertised in American Art Collector, Western Art Collector, and Southwest Art.
Her work can be found in collections in Europe (Paris, Geneva, Germany, and the United Kingdom), the United States (New York, La Jolla CA, Santa Fe NM, Santa Barbara CA, Key West FL, Wilmington DE; Chadds Ford PA, among others), and Mexico.
Bernadette Youngquist is a mixed-media abstract painter located lakeside in northern Colorado. Prior to pursuing surface pattern creation, she successfully finished core undergraduate courses in drawing and design. The most recent rigorous three-month painting workshop Bernadette took was with San Francisco artist Nicholas Wilton. After earning degrees in Psychology and Sociology she chose a self-guided arts education so that she could honour her individual creative process.
She discovered surface pattern design to be educational but constrictive and discovered abstract painting provided the expressive freedom she was looking for. Her favourite aesthetic experience is in nature and she combines expressionist methods with rigid compositions because she believes they work well together and appear balanced. She believes that it is crucial to follow her intuition, take chances, and push the envelope because "That is what breathes life into a painting." Acrylic paint's immediate application allows for continual layering, sanding back of previous layers, and repetition of the process to create the work's rich textures and depth. Baltic birch panels offer a sturdy foundation for a painting's first construction. Additionally used to create marks, oil pastels are suspended and sealed in layers of acrylic media.
Her work is currently represented by several galleries and art consultants. She has exhibited in local, national and international juried shows and exhibits. Her most notable juried shows were "On Point," curated by Gwen Chanzit of the Denver Art Museum, and the "NonObjective Abstract" exhibition, organised by Lisa Hatchadoorian of the Fort Collins Museum of Art. Additionally, she recently participated in an exhibition with the National Association of Women Artists and the Colorado Women's Caucus for the Arts, where she also spoke on a panel. She will be exhibiting at Art Santa Fe in July 2023 with the Redwood Art Group. Her work is in private collections and has already received two honourable mentions. In addition to being now represented by the International Galerie Azur, she has recently formed connections with private galleries and commercial art consultants in Colorado.
Artist about her work:
“My paintings are the language of collective expression. I believe all people are connected and when we quiet our minds we can tap into a place that unites all living things. As an artist, I
ask you to contemplate the subtleties of life and want to leave you with a message of hope. My work is guided by truth, beauty, love, and the belief that all people have the freedom to express themselves authentically. My hope is that through her art people will connect with themselves and others in a meaningful way.”
Dina Zakman was born in Latvia, in the city of Riga. She graduated from the Janis Rozentals Art School and the Latvian Academy of Arts. Dina Zakman's artwork represents a distinctive phenomenon in Latvian art. Her works blend precise composition, elegant lines, and refined decorative elements typical of the Baltic school.
Her varied portfolio incorporates many different artistic genres, encompassing not only paintings and graphics but also liveries for airplanes and racing cars. She uses vivid colours that reflect her distinct viewpoint, aesthetic sensibilities, and life experiences to decorate her canvases in everything from painting to graphics and sculpture. Inspired by the world's illusory nature, she uses a range of genres and mediums to go deeper into the dream realm while crafting her own mythology that challenges stereotypes and challenges viewers to reflect on their own lives and place in the universe. In order to spark discussion and get people to consider the ephemeral and fluid character of reality, she encourages her audience to take part in a debate that extends beyond the confines of her artwork. She precisely renders even the smallest elements in her paintings, which are renowned for their precision. Often using size-zero brushes, she captures every detail on her two-meter canvases. Her annual output of paintings is therefore limited to no more than ten.
Remarkably, Dina is one of just two Eastern European artists involved in the group exhibition "Spring in Montblanc," which is organised in association with the Montblanc corporation, a major sponsor of contemporary artists. Her paintings have been exhibited both in Latvia and internationally, including in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.
Artist about her work:
"The central theme of my artistic work is the manifestation of the illusory nature of the surrounding world. In my art, I reevaluate the legacy of the old masters in terms of execution technique and the two-dimensionality of Eastern stylistic representation, where the contemplative manner of presentation is based on a profound philosophical understanding of the flow of life, the inexorable passage of time, and the mutability of the world. My works advocate the ethics of authenticity towards oneself, where individuals become part of nature without seeking domination and selfish privatization. My goal is to create an illusion of illusion, to demonstrate that our world is never static or unequivocal for a single moment. Through my works, I encourage contemplation on how we perceive and interpret the surrounding reality and strive to evoke an emotional response, prompting individuals to ponder their own conceptions of the world. I aim for viewers to question global existential values and seek their own answers, for, as the allegory of Plato's cave teaches us, true happiness can only be achieved through the dispelling of illusions."
Cheng Zhang is an artist from Beijing, China. Since 2018, he has lived, studied, and worked in London, UK. He attended University of the Arts London, where he graduated with a BA and an MA.
Cheng's art practise focuses on the urban scene; the subjects of his works span from minutely rendered street corners to expansive metropolis skylines. Impressionism, Cubism, Abstract Expressionism, and Constructivism all had an impact on Cheng's artistic approach. He has expertise in both realistic and non-realistic methodologies. Acrylic, gouache, and watercolour paints are the primary mediums he uses to create his works of art.
One of his most notable exhibitions was 'I Have Never Been to Beijing', a solo show in Beijing, China. As an artist, Cheng believes that expression is what he does from perception and how he is best at it.
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