Volha Naruta-Johnson

Volha Naruta-Johnson (b. 1989, Belarus) is a California-based self-taught contemporary artist, working across textured and figurative oil painting. Member of Oil Painters of America OPA and American Artists Professional League AAPL.
Educated in Art of Cultural Heritage and later trained in embodiment practices and hypnotherapy. Her interdisciplinary background and international experience as a performing artist inform the embodied qualities of her work. Her practice explores the psychological and emotional dimensions of contemporary womanhood, focusing on the tensions between motherhood, autonomy, and societal expectations.
Since 2025, when she began to paint, Volha has established an active exhibition presence in Northern California through solo and group exhibitions.
In March 2026, she presented her first solo exhibition as a Studio Tour Artist, and began developing the ongoing series Being a Woman, marking a shift toward figurative oil painting. She often says that the complexity of oil painting has made her not only a stronger artist, but a better person.
Her work has received several international awards and has been featured in publications such as Arts to Hearts Magazine,100 Emerging Artworks of 2026, International Artist...

EDUCATION
2007 BFA, Art of Cultural Heritage, EHU, Lithuania, Vilnius

ADDITIONAL EDUCATION
2026 Christopher Remmers's course 'Still Life as a gateway to creative composition and figure form and glow’
2026 Art2Life Nicolas Wilton's workshop: "The creative visionary blueprint workshop"
2025 Ozhivitel Art Academy course: "TOP ART: Optical Transparency Technique"
2025 Milan Art Institute masterclasses with Dimitra and Elli Milan: ''How to paint portraits that sell', "Acrylic painting made easy"

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2026 Studio Tour Artist, curated by Cynthia Abraham, Atrium Gallery, El Dorado Hills, CA
2026 Where Texture Speaks, Biafarin online Gallery, Canada

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026 Bold Expression, Northern California Art
2026 Beauty and The Beast, Atrium Gallery, CA
2026 Membership Medley, Blue Line Gallery. Roseville, CA
2026 Perspective, The Gallery at 48 Natoma, CA
2026 Banner on Parade, curated by Images of Hope, Placerville, CA
2026 Golden State, Gallery 10, Sutter Creek, CA
2025 Honeycomb Project ( Featured in Volume 6), Great Basin College, Elko, Nevada / Oats ark Art Center, Fallon, Nevada / Metro Gallery , Reno, CA /
2025 Membership show, Atrium Gallery / The Gallery at 48 Natoma / Teaspoon Gallery / The MACC Gallery / City Hall Rancho Cordova
2025 Fall Fine Art Show, City Hall , Rancho Cordova, CA
2025 All the Leaves Are Gone, Atrium Gallery, EDH, CA
2025 The Sky Is The Limit, The Gallery at Natoma 48, Folsom, CA
2025 Birds of a feather, City Hall, Rancho Cordova, CA
2025 Art Prize, Online Exhibition, New York