Katia Zhukova, high contrast portraits & figures

“Every portrait painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter” – Oscar Wilde

As an artist, I am searching for my identity through the inherent beauty of the physical human form, the shell of the human spirit, finding reflections of myself in my models. When creating a painting, the minimal use of color helps me get to the core of the subject. I use shadow and light to bring out depth; to bring out something that appeals to me, a part of myself, through the model.

The high contrast and physical darkness reveal an intrinsic beauty that can often lie outside of the comfort zone of the viewer. Risking or possibly even provoking this discomfort in the viewer, enables a new perspective on classic themes, such as portrait and figure. Acrylic paint, using only the three primary colors, plus black and white, provides the perfect medium to capture this perspective, emphasizing it’s beauty.
Katia Zhukova
May 31, 2017

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