The Forelock (Portrait of a man with a topknot on his head, one red eye and one red ear in purple, black and magenta colors) Painting

I am a professional artist living in Marseille, France. I studied art in Russia and then I completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Visual Arts at the Sorbonne University in Paris. I came to Paris when I was 23, and it was this city that inspired me to return to drawing. A black felt pen and a tiny box of watercolors, and here I am, capturing the Parisians in their everyday routine, in the middle of a beautiful urban scenery. At this point, I elaborated my urging, expressive, synthetic and minimalistic style. My studies at the Sorbonne University gave me an opportunity to practice in oil and acrylic painting, but also in etching, screen printing, video and photography. I then practiced mixed media drawing with a life model; this experience taught me to see the true beauty and the expressiveness of human body, to embed my worlds and scenarios into my paintings and to choose in what I see the elements I want to throw away as well as those I want to keep in my artwork, as they will better reflect the story I want to tell. I get inspired by the works of Claude Monet, Emil Nolde, Vincent Van Gogh, Mark Chagall, Mikhail Vrubel, Henry Matisse, Arkhip Kuindzhi, Valentin Serov, Pablo Picasso, Egon Schiele, Yayoi Kusama, Marina Abramovic, Sophie Calle, Fabienne Verdier. My work experience as a theater scenographer and lightning designer added to my artistic style identity and influenced my way to see and convey the composition and colors in my paintings. I work in a very unique expressive semi-abstract style. My paintings stand out by their dramatism, stylization, simplification, exaggeration, emphasized contrast and intense color palette. What inspires me? People’s faces in public transports, human figures in urban environment, the beauty of human body, the light and the very special colors of the South of France. I find it fascinating to peer at people and try to imagine what their living is made of and what sorrows and joys they carry inside. It is always interesting to see their reaction if it occurs to them that they are being the subject of my drawing. I believe our life is a constant flow of energy, and every person is in the center of this flux which reflects his or her vibes. Our way to perceive the world around us, eventually conditions and programs the events and people we meet. My deep desire is to convey the beauty and the attractiveness of our versatile world reflected in any person in a very unique way.