|
|
 |
|
My name is Andrei Stepanov and I was born in 1964 in Vladimir, an ancient Russian city. In 1978 my family moved to Ukraine, where in 1990 I graduated from the Volyn State University with Master's Degree in Germanic Languages and Arts. Following three years were devoted to the study at the Volyn School of Art. After graduation I worked as a graphic designer at "Vsesvit" printing house.
Since that moment I started painting. My first exhibition was held in 1995 at the local gallery "Krajna Khata". Then several more exhibitions followed, two of them in 1997 and 1999 in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. In 2003 my family, my wife and son, who is 18 now, moved to the USA. Since that time I've been working mostly with oils, using palette knife to get bold and instant color. I find knife to be a great tool of expression. A very ordinary scene can be perceived differently when painted with a bit of exaggerated color and awareness of light. The ordinary scene then can become the extraordinary. I try not only to replicate the scene, but to create certain mood and feelings.
There is such a radiance and mobility in the atmosphere that envelopes every thing in its dazzling splendor! I'm trying to convey these feelings to people. There is only one way that every thing can be conveyed and expressed - color. Color is organic, if you can put it this way. Color is alive; it alone can convey living things.
As you can see, due to the palette knife technique, all my paintings are awash in color and the paint is laid on thickly. In creating visual art I try to collect ideas, energy and impressions from my personal experiences and surroundings, and then, using the skills and imagination, portray the interpretation on canvas.
Right now I live and work in Columbus, devoting my time mostly to painting, sometimes making furniture pieces, like the coffee tables. It's a kind of hobby, may be because I like the smell of natural wood.
I hope you enjoyed viewing my pictures the way I enjoyed painting them.
With love, Andrei.
|
