Vadim Puyandaev

ARTIST STATEMENT:
Whether it’s birds fornicating on a picnic table or a dancer losing themselves in the present moment, I want the viewer to hear the music of color because I believe color is the essence of painting. Working in traditional genres such as landscape, still life, and figurative painting where the format is already set, I have an opportunity to create expressive non-narrative canvases that, via composition, energy, and, especially, color, evoke emotional responses. My work often contrasts stillness with motion, solid objects with flat backgrounds, and painting in different shades of a chosen hue, resulting in qualities of dynamism and beauty. From a childlike disregard and a willingness to follow blindly the movement of my hand across the canvas, I allow form to materialize naturally without provoking it. Fine lines—scratches layered over contrasting chunky brushstrokes, daubs of light—unearth figures, become suggestions of life in the dappled world of the painting. Objects are partially obstructed because I want to leave it to the viewer’s imagination to create worlds or stories within the painting. Viewing my art is not a passive activity; it is a dynamic act of joy-making. Like a moving musical piece, my art is abs...

MFA (University of Kazakhstan), Artist Union (Belarus, as a xylographer)

Selected Exhibitions & Featured Works

2024-2025
“Birds Picnic” (Xylography) is featured in the 12th Annual International Juried Print Exhibition at Remarque, New Mexico, from December 13, 2024, to January 25, 2025.
“Birds Picnic” and “Still Life with Grapes” (Xylographies) were exhibited at Gallery 1337, San Rafael, California, from November 22, 2024, to January 25, 2025.
Round Dance Painting Series and Xylography were showcased at The Other Art Fair, Los Angeles, Fall 2024.

2023
Solo Exhibition at Refined Interior Studio & Gallery in Berkeley, California.
Group Exhibition “For the Love of Birds” at the Museum of Northern California Art, Chico, California, January 26 – March 19, 2023.

2022
The Other Art Fair at Barker Hangar, Los Angeles, September 22–25, 2022.
Group Exhibition at SOMArts Gallery, San Francisco, October 22 – November 13, 2022.
Group Exhibition “Nocturne” at ArtLink Contemporary Gallery, October 27 – November 20, 2022.

2019
Solo Exhibition at The University Club of San Francisco, March – June 2019.

2018
Group Exhibition at SOMArts Gallery, San Francisco, October 11 – November 11, 2018.
The Other Art Fair at Barker Hangar, Los Angeles, October 25–28, 2018.
Exhibition “Dancers” Painting Series at Joe Goode Annex ...