Tanya Kostina’s Portraits in Emotion

The mysterious and lyrical mixed media portraits of Tanya Kostina merge elements of Classical portraiture and Expressionist art, as well as the new aesthetic of contemporary female painters like Cecily Brown and Elizabeth Peyton. The pieces have the hand-hewn quality of drawings, with the same emphasis on line, in their fragility and laboriousness. But Tanya Kostina also folds ink, acrylic, watercolor, and charcoal into her pencil work, working with a spare palette that does not distract from and always complements the main message and focus. Emotion is infused in every mark that the artist makes, as figures fit perfectly with their backgrounds, creating a powerful atmosphere in each piece. The result is a series of works that reflect the strength of nature and man’s union with it both in the most general sense and as represented by animals.
Tanya Kostina was born in Stavropol, Russia and has worked in both design and printing. A lifelong artist, she counts among her influences Gustav Klimt, Frida Kahlo, and the Russian painter Mikhail Vrubel.