artist Statement

My artistic practice is deeply shaped by my life experiences, including the loss of my mother during my formative years and my immigration journey. Having lived in Moscow, Soviet Union for 15 years and in NYC for 20 years, architecture provided a rich visual vocabulary for engaging with ideas of belonging and change. The diverse architectural landscapes I encountered—from traditional to modernist/Brutalist and contemporary—encapsulated different eras and values, and these references and metaphors are embedded in my work as a way to mark locations and times.

My influences are wide-ranging, drawing from sources as diverse as ancient Greek myths, Soviet Brutalist architecture, and my experiences as a mother. The loss of my mother is inextricably connected to my connection with nature. Her love for wildflowers, in contrast to cultivated varieties, and her saying, "If you can love the wildflowers, you can love everyone," has profoundly shaped both my worldview and my approach to art. This perspective taught me to see beauty in the untamed, impermanent, unassuming, inconspicuous, and overlooked aspects of nature—what others might regard as underdogs.

This outlook extends beyond nature, influencing how I view the overlooked or discarded aspects of life itself. I intentionally seek beauty in a moment, finding methods for cultivating gratitude and curiosity. I hope to inspire my audience to slow down, look closely, experience intimately, and listen to the quiet. This practice serves as a meditative technique, a behavioral training to achieve mental balance.

The convergence of ecology and nature also plays a crucial role in my work. Suzanne Anker, a pioneering Bio-artist whose teachings at SVA shaped my approach to art, influenced my perspective on these intersections. The work of Hilma af Klint, with her esoteric perspective on the natural world, and Sarah Sze’s immersive installations and use of everyday objects, shadow, and light, have also profoundly impacted my approach to medium and technique. By combining traditional crafts with modern perspectives, I draw inspiration from domestic objects and references to domesticity, reflecting the belief that magic is all around us all the time and that we create our won reality.

I work in a variety of media, including sculpture, painting, and installation, with a focus on the fragility and impermanence of materials and the dynamic between beauty and decay. I find inspiration in the discarded and the overlooked, exploring themes of memory, grief, and spirituality while challenging dominant societal standards of value. By blending domesticity with art, I create work that invites reflection on the present moment, our connection to nature, and the magic that resides in the quiet, everyday moments of life.