Prizes and Awards

OSTEN Award, 40 Gallery of Drawing Biennal 2012, Skopje, Macedonia

Winner of Strokes of Genius: Best of Drawing, 2011, USA
North Light judges and series editor Rachel Wolf selected the winning images of 112 artists from a record number of more than 1650 entries.

Second Prize at ‘Is it Fine Art? Exhibition Challenging Traditions’, 2011, Pen and Brush Gallery, New York, USA. Juried by gallerist and auctioneer Kenneth Hutter and auction appraiser Jennifer Elhardt

ART OF GIVING National Art Competition-2010, Finalist, SAATCHI Gallery, London, UK
Two paintings of ARINA, ‘Silence, Opus 3’ and ‘Nibiru’ were chosen out of thousands of entries among the 10 finalists in Painting/Drawing category of the Art of Giving National Art Competition 2010 in the United Kingdom. The works have been selected by a panel that includes representatives from the Tate, Frieze, Scream and FAS London, Gavin Turk, Christian Furr and Terry O'Neill.

LICC-2010, London International Creative Competition, Winner for a Trophy, Awards Ceremony in Soho Theatre, London, UK. ‘Wide Shut Eyes’ series by ARINA were selected by the International Panel of 12 Judges out of 5000 submissions from 95 countries for a Trophy awarded at the LICC-2010 Award Ceremony at the Soho Theatre in London

The Best Foreign Artist Mention, Arte Laguna Art Prize, 2010, Venice Arsenale, Italy

Special Prize Gagliardi Art Gallery, Arte Laguna Art Prize, 2010, Venice Arsenale, Italy

Special Prize Fiorella Pieri Contemporary Art Gallery, Arte Laguna Art Prize, 2010, Venice Arsenale, Italy

Best of 2010, Winner in Painting People/Today Life category, Marziart International Gallery, Hamburg, Germany

EXPO-29 Winner, International Painting Competition, b.j.spoke gallery, 2010, New York, USA
Juried by Cornelia Seckel, publisher ’The Art Times’
ARTWORKinternational, Inc. finalist for the grant 2010

MFA Now Award Winner, International Painting Competition, 2009, Miami, New York, USA
Winners were chosen by international panel of judges including Kay Saatchi, Edward Lucie-Smith, Judy Chicago, John Miley, Maura Reilly, Bernar Veneth , Colette Kwok, Victoria Lu

First Place Award, Full Brush Exhibition, Pen and Brush Gallery, 2009, New York, USA
Juried and awarded by Margaret Kelly Trombly, the president of the Forbes Art Collection

Second Prize in Portrait/Figure category, The Artist’s Magazine, International Painting Competition, 2009, USA. The Artist’s Magazine’s Annual Painting Competition boasts between 10 and 14 thousand entries, narrowing the field to choose between 50 and 75 images for the final judging panel to select 6 winners in each category.

Face of National British Charity ‘Sue Ryder Care 2009’, Art Liberating Lives Campaign, UK

Finalist in the Annual Painting Prize FRINGEMK, 2009

Anthony J. Lester Art Critic Award 2008, SWA exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, awarded by Lady Gabriella Windsor

Public Choice Prize 2008, National Open Art Competition, Chichester, UK
Awarded by Kay Austin at the Arts Club, Dover Street Mayfair, London

Visitor's Choice Award 2008, Cork Street Gallery, Annual Cork Street Open Art Competition, London, UK

First Prize in Portrait/Figure category, The Artist’s Magazine, International Student’s Competition, 2008, USA, The Artist's Magazine (January/February 2009) 'Stand-out Students' (Page 54)

Shortlisted for The Brenda Landon Pye Portrait Prize 2008, London, UK


ARINA Faces

Contextual essay by Peter Monkman MA, Director of Art Charterhouse and First Prize Winner of the BP Portrait Awards 2009 at the National Portrait Gallery, London

Recently within contemporary art there has been resurgence in using the portrait genre as a tool to explore concepts that reach beyond pure appearance and likeness. As an artist that uses portraiture, I am drawn to examine what it is that makes certain figurative artists compelling. ARINA’s faces stand out from the crowd with a graphic signature style that is memorable.

The compositions have a bold directness with the monochromes and reds creating a visual language that communicates across cultures. Her use of light, composition and pose has a sense of a 17 Century Dutch artists like Vermeer but the use of scale, tone and reference to realism bring it firmly into the 21 Century. The qualities of her art have hints of her Russian background within the context of Western influences.

On close inspection ARINA’s handling of paint is not of bold gestures but the quiet, slow build-up of tonal values which beautifully suggest the sensual surface of the skin and underlying bone structure. The lack of hair accentuates the features of the face with the folds of the head scarf contributing to the architecture of the head, creating an almost sculptural object. The repetition and slight variation of the compositions suggest film or photographic sequences and the flat red head scarf creates a colour-field that generates an interesting shifting pictorial space for the face to occupy.

ARINA uses herself as a vessel for her ideas; however, I would argue the paintings are not self-portraits. The likeness is striking and her expressions are beguiling; she occupies her face with the confidence of an actor trying to communicate to a broad audience. ARINA’s portraits are ambiguous, she does not reveal too much about herself but presents an icon of a woman that can be contemplated and interpreted in many ways; this is where her paintings’ strength.

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Education

2007 - 2008 MA Fine Art, Chelsea College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London, UK

2006 – 2007 BA Fine Art (Painting) Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design, University of the Arts, London, UK

2005 – 2006 Foundation Studies (Painting), Merit Certificate, Central Saint Martins College of Art and design, University of the Arts, London, UK

1985 – 1987 Art School (part-time), Fine Art, Distinction Certificate, Russia
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