Artist talk with
Katia Lifshin
'Pyramid of emotions', 2021
Oil on canvas
120x120 cm
Tell us about yourself.
My name is Katia Lifshin, I’m 28 years old from Israel. I was born in Ukraine and immigrated to Israel with my family when I was 4. At 19 yo I relocated to the US and lived there for 6 year, I studied painting and sculpting in Tucson, AZ. Since 2018 I live in Israel.
Where did your passion for art begin?
One memory I recall from childhood is when I was smearing oil pastels in art class, we all had to make self portraits in 1st grade. I just remember how much I loved that feeling of pushing the paint against the white paper.
'Mystery Unravels',2021
Oil on canvas
110x110 cm
'Leap', 2021
Oil on canvas
100x100 cm
How would you describe your work to someone?
I paint characters of young girls who all have an inner conflict. I use blue and green in my work to express that feeling of melancholy and mystery, the color gives me freedom to create their world. I use old black and white photographs as inspiration references to my work.
What are you currently working on?
I’m working on a series of paintings for group shows, and starting to plan my solo
show at Moosey gallery coming up in August 2022. The paintings are in a blue and green color palette, they all happen in these worlds where my girls exist. In these places, there is room for strange things to occur. One of my characters is “Mysterioso”, she wears an eye mask (like zorro), and she is always up to something. I also have another character I want to develop further, it’s a girl wearing a bucket hat, she loves nature and appears more in my green paintings.
'Being here being now', 2021
Oil on canvas
90x90 cm
When you start a new work or project, do you plan what you’re going to create or do you improvise?
I always plan my paintings. I make sketches with pencil first, and for my large works I also make another sketch with oil paint, but I do find myself changing things throughout the initial painting process.
Can you highlight some of your influences and discuss how your influences have made an impact on you and your practice?
I love collecting old photographs, the people look so different and detached from our reality. I like how they spark my imagination, and I start thinking of how some details in the photographs can play out in my paintings.
Some of the artists I love and who influenced my work are Balthus, Lisa Yuskavage for her use of color, Alex Colville for his brushwork and composition, Max Ernst, and Dino Valls.
What are your plans for the remainder of this year?
I have a solo show at Moosey gallery opening 11.8.22, and a group show at Tchotchke gallery. Stay tuned :)
'Bioluminescence', 2021
Oil on canvas
100x100 cm