"False Modesty" Painting

Ilya Volykhine has been a full-time artist for over twenty years. Born in the Soviet Union, he is a New Zealand and Australian citizen and a critically acclaimed figurative painter known for the poetic edge and subtle, absurd humour in his work. He has lived and painted in New Zealand for over 17 years. His narratives explore the daily anxieties and quiet joys of human life through a loose, playful, and wonderfully chaotic process.

His accolades include recognition in the 2026 and 2016 Adam Portraiture Awards, the 2025 ILT Murihiku Art Awards, the 2023 Molly Morpeth Canaday Award, and multiple honours at the Walker and Hall Art Awards, where he has won for his figurative work. His paintings have also appeared in high-profile international exhibitions and art fairs, including Australia's Archibald Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Blake Prize, and the Jacaranda Drawing Prize. Additionally, his work forms part of the permanent Imago Mundi New Zealand Consciousness collection in Italy.

Although born in the USSR, Volykhine and his family have lived across the globe. He has held residencies and exhibited internationally in cultural hubs from New York to Estonia. Since relocating to New Zealand in 2009, he has exhibited steadily throughout the country in both solo and group gallery settings, building a strong presence in private, public, and corporate collections worldwide.

At the heart of Volykhine’s practice is a deeply intuitive approach. Driven by confidence and a willingness to let each painting find its own direction, he builds layered compositions using expressive brushwork and mixed-media collage. This gives his distinctive characters room to breathe, allowing unseen stories to take shape directly on the canvas.