Victoria Zelenikina

Memorable images, powerful interaction, symbolism – these are defining features of Victoria Zelenikina’s art.

Victoria was born in Novorossiysk, Russia. She has two degrees in teaching English and International relations. Both have nothing to do with her current occupation.

Victoria has always been keen on art. As a child she developed passion for creative activities. She was a professional ballet dancer. Later she was a member of best dance ensembles on the Black Sea coast. Having perfectly developed her choreography skills, Victoria started learning the vocals, she won several Russian and international song contests. She was also a professional model for a long time, she took part in fashion shows, photo shoots and beauty contests, having won several prizes.

All these activities were her main occupation, and all Victoria’s free time was devoted to painting.

She tried different drawing media, today her media of choice are colour pencils and acryl.

This way attracted lots of criticism. The disapproval came from the professionals saying the light was wrong, the horizon was skewed, inaccurate human anatomy or composition… Victoria listened and filed the most useful things away in her mind, but her art was still declar...

She started painting with pencils in the age of three and continued just because she loved it. Her parents saw she was into arts and decided their daughter had to enter the arts academy when she was 12. The academy although refused to accept Victoria due to lack of abilities as they said. This was main motivation for Victoria’s future growth as an artist.

Victoria is a self-learner, therefore she has no limits or rules in her artworks. She does not admit there is the right or wrong way to create. This is why it’s always difficult to define the genre of her works. She paints the way she feels.

For a long while Victoria was a black sheep in the art world because she denied any standard approach or limitation in her works. This made the artist decide to take her own action. This is how ARTTENTION movement started.

ARTTENTION is a series of Victoria’s personal picture shows, four of them have already taken place as of today. The events were of great success. The artist dislikes the usual art exhibitions when the drawings are put on the walls, and the audience just stare at them silently and then walk away. She fancied her shows as something you never get bored of. So every year she creates a unique event. Apart from the drawings, people can immerse themselves into a whole lot of show lasting 3-4 hours and containing many talented artists such as dancers, singers, pop stars. These activities create a remarkable atmosphere to replenish the drawings. Every ARTTENTION part includes contests and gifts for guests, welcome-drinks, banquet, and entertainment. But the high light of the event is Victoria’s own performance showing the artist’s new and yet unknown to the audience side. This performance covers the exhibition topic and creates a special emotional charge that moves people to tears.

It is the original approach to the...