Red Hippo, Lime Green Jelly Bean by Anna Katalkina

January 3 - February 2, 2020
Opening Reception: Saturday, January 11, 2 - 4pm
Closing Reception: Saturday, February 1, 2 - 4pm
GALLERY B
Contemporary Still Life: Candy and Mementos by Anna Katalkina

Most people collect souvenirs, small objects of sentimental value. These tchotchkes are at once subjectively valuable and objectively value-less. They are candy for the mind and the eye, coveted and acquired to remember specific people, places, and moments. Anna Katalkina looks for such objects high and low everywhere she goes: in friends' homes, shop windows, museums, flea markets. Then she paints them, paired with candy, as if the characters on stage relating their stories. Intimately sized at 6"x6" and painted in the multilayered technique reminiscent of the Dutch Old Masters, the paintings themselves become mementos – for both the artist and the collectors. The series explores contrasts: humor vs. seriousness, light vs. dark, worthy vs. unworthy, and the ideas of memories, contentment, permanence, volatility, conformity, and individuality. 

Anna is using a classical painting approach, called “the indirect method.” It involves a monochromatic underpainting, subsequently covered with layers of glazing (transparent colors that modify the layers below). The layers mix optically and create a translucent effect not easily achieved by using opaque paint. Building up the glazing helps create luminosity and depth. This method of painting takes time and patience, as each layer needs to dry before the next one is applied. The 17th century Dutch Masters used extensively these techniques. Besides loving the aesthetics of this style, Anna feels that the ritual of the painting process itself reflects her wish to slow down amidst the societal racing and to pay tribute to craftsmanship rare in our factory-ruled world.

Anna Katalkina was born and grew up in St. Petersburg, Russia. Since 1992, she has lived in London, Birmingham, AL, Washington D.C., and spent much time in France. She trained in painting and drawing at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the Corcoran College at Art and Design, and in the studio of a Maroger painter Robert H. White (1921-2008, the original apprentice to Jacques Maroger). Anna also holds a BA in French Language and Culture and a MALS in Cultural Diplomacy. She is a member of Touchstone Gallery in Washington, D.C., regularly exhibits in the D.C. and Annapolis area, and has shown her work in juried shows in Paris and New York State. To learn more about Anna’s work, please visit www.annakatalkina.com 

Clown, Egg, Candy by Anna Katalkina