Diana Lavrukhina
Biography
Diana Lavrukhina names herself 'Social Artist' as her paintings and art stories depict social aspects of our life. She is practicing style that she calls 'Sketchism' which is based on joy of melody of line and shape. Sketchy softened silhouettes, explicit limited colour palette, clear shapes and endless positive energy - it is all there in Diana's paintings.
What’s your background?
When we talk about my background I should mention multicultural roots that my parents gave to me - my predecessors had been migrating through the North-East of Europe for many centuries. That is why I have inherited religious traditions and cultures varying among Orthodox and Catholic, Buddist, Jewish and even pagan Proto-Finnish with its strong beliefs in powers of nature such as the God of the Sun and the Spirit of the Forest. This mix of the cultures as well as changes in my lifestyle during recent years inspired me to start a nomadic life. Recently I have been rotating my studios between several countries at once, so I had already been painting in the workshops in London, Saint Petersburg, Dubai and Novi Sad.
The most interesting experience about such swaps of cities is the influence of local cultures to shapes and colours that I include into my artworks. London inspired me to paint a lot, but colours and shapes had been pale and conservative. Dubai motivated me to create numerous small art sketches which are full of gold, ornaments and bold shapes. Saint Petersburg and Novi Sad made me work more slowly and look into Renaissance art with its softness and beauty of human-beings. Love for it could be, of course, partly explained by classical drawings education that I have taken in Repin Arts Academy, but also there is a strong influence of these particular cities with their gorgeous architectural ensembles richly decorated with plaster floral motifs and geniusly created statues. So, recently, in many of my paintings you could enjoy tender shapes with almost perfect anatomic features expressed in the style of sketchy silhouettes.
What does it mean to you to win the Collectors Art Prize?
For me to win the Collectors Art Prize means to get an acknowledgement of my talent being recognised globally as a result of my art being exposed on-line and off-line in a lot of countries. In particular, during the last decade my paintings had been presented in many group exhibitions and also in a few solo ones. My art had been shown in such culturally rich cities like London, New York, Tokyo, Milan, Florence, Saint Petersburg as well as being present on main art platforms and media.
What do you think is the role of art in the world today?
Living during previous decades people used to believe that empathy is taking the lead and replacing fear, anger and aggression in modern society. Despite ongoing global conflicts, the world nowadays is far different from what it was even a century ago. Humanity almost everywhere won the fights against slavery, dictatorship and made many people believe that dialog, compromise, respect of different points of view and diversity are the most valued things for all of us. Enormous role in changing the attitudes towards democratic and liberal values had been done by the means of art and culture. And the primary role of art today is to continue promoting the best about being ourselves. To give people a goal and the meaning of life to become even more advanced individuals and continue building a society where the core of it is based on caring for each other.
What would it be if you could change one thing about the art world?
If we think about contemporary art available to the wide public today - there are two main ways of interaction between an artist and the society. First one is done in the way of giving a spectator some particular feeling which is provoked by a particular colour palette/form of an abstract art or any other form that is directly interacting with our senses. The second one is mostly presented by works of figurative art, which convey a message on one of the mainstream problems and often provoking some important questions about new normals.
If I would have a magic pen and would be able to change an art world in a minute I would add a third stream to it - to make artworks that would create a perfect universe depicted on canvas, described in the books and retold in the songs. Such a world should be the existence that most of us would have a desire to take part in. It should be based on our basic values such as love, compassion, unity, equality, diversity, elimination of any borders or segregations, shared respect and family values. This could be done by showing idealized relationships between people like soulmates and couples in love, united strong families, representatives of different generations taking care of each other, friends circles, various communities that are open for anyone to join, etc.
What are your most significant professional achievements?
Talking about the art I am practicing I would highlight two particular achievements. The first one is my ability to promote basic values such as love, friendship, unity in almost any of the paintings I create. Second achievement is the development of my own artistic style which I call 'sketchism'. It is named after the word 'sketch' as it is based on the depiction of silhouettes by the limited, but explicit colour palette expressed as oil paintings on the big scale canvas.
What do you wish to tell viewers about your work that might not come out explicitly? What do you hope to inspire with your artwork?
My artworks are all about the elegance and fragility of our world. I select the models who are full of plasticity, personality and soul and surround them by the citations of endlessly delightful nature. I hope I inspire people to go off-line, go out from their home to enjoy the open air, to call or visit their loved ones, to think about eternity of the macrocosm and a purpose of their own life.
What advice would you give to the upcoming generation of artists?
If we talk about advice for upcoming generation of artists - my main suggestion would be to let an artist understand his/her own sources of inspiration, to look into what is the most important for him/her to be a representative of our society and express such beliefs through the artist's works to be able to communicate what has a real value. When every artist would express his/her own perception of our universe, would talk to what personally matters to himself/herself, we would get a great set of ideas and points of view projected in the endless variations of colours, forms and shapes. This would for sure enrich our cultural experiences.
In what direction would you like to see your career go in the next five years?
Next years I would definitely continues practicing my own art style - 'sketchism' - the joy of melody of lines and shapes expressed by the bright colours pallets. Also, the subject would stay the same - artworks will be created to continue promoting basic values. And, of course, in many of the works you would be able to meet my favorite models who are full of tenderness, plasticity and deep inner world.
Country Serbia
Website https://www.dianalartdesign.com
