Hello art connoisseur! I'm glad we finally met! My name is Olga Minina and I am a self-taught artist. I was born and live in Russia (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk).
My profession - a lawyer, to which I have devoted many years, served as an impetus for me to express my ideas in paintings. One of the qualities of a real lawyer is inner freedom: freedom from conventions, other people's opinions, frameworks imposed by society, without which it is impossible to realize his main purpose - to defend the rights and freedoms of other people.
Therefore, the main theme in my work is the theme of freedom. Freedom is the main value in this world. And I want to pass it on to others.
The second topic that began to interest me as I grew creatively is the relationship between people and the psychology of personality, because my profession allowed me to study psychology well. In my opinion, images allow people to think more deeply about the meaning of the author's statement than words. I've always liked double meanings and non-obvious answers to simple questions.
I am an artist with varied interests and talents. I am attracted by everything new and unknown. I write in oils, acrylics, dry and oil pastels, pencils, watercolors. I love mixed techniques.
I take art very seriously and use it as a means of expressing my ideas about the modern world and emotions on canvas. In my opinion, images allow people to think more deeply about an author's statement than words. I have always liked double meanings and non-obvious answers to simple questions, I like to excite the minds of people, to encourage them to think.
I am constantly learning: studying the history of art, acquiring new skills in painting. I participate in international exhibitions of contemporary art. And I'm not going to stop.
International exhibition ARTBOX.PROJECT New York 2.0 (New York, USA)
2022, february
International exhibition ARTBOX.PROJECT World 2.0 (Zurich, Switzerland)
2021, december
Artistic merit recognized by the Luxembourg Art Prize 2021
2021, august
International exhibition SwissArtExpo ARTBOX.PROJECT Zurich 3.0 (Zurich, Switzerland)
2021, june
Exclusively selected by composer and pianist Alexander Margin as an artist to participate in the "Auras of a Brooklyn Gallery" music exhibition at the Brooklyn Gallery in New York (New York, USA)
2021, may
- International Exhibition-Competition of Contemporary Art "Russian Art Week". 2nd place in the abstract painting competition, in the category "Image (Forms and Borders)" with the painting "Perfect Society" (Moscow, Russia)
2021, may
International Exhibition-Competition of Communicative Art “Man and Woman. Storytelling ". 2nd place in the nomination "Symbols of Harmony" with the painting - diptych "Yin Yang" (Moscow, Russia)
2021, may
International Festival of Emotional Arts "Emotions", 2nd place in the category "Inspiration. Illumination" with the painting "Memento mori "(Moscow, Russia)
"I see the essence and show it for you"
Painting "Water", 2021, oil on canvas, 80 x 80 sm
The painting "Water" was created specially for the All-Russian project "Art to the North". The theme of the project is “North” or “The authenticity of my city / region”. To create this picture, I was lucky to be inspired by the ornaments of the Nivkhs at the Sakhalin Regional Art Museum, which was just taking place at that time. I came to the conclusion that the roots of modern abstraction are rooted in antiquity, when signs and symbols replaced written language for people. In fact, an ornament is a description of reality in signs and symbols. They are found in every culture in the world. The Nivkhs still retain their identity: rituals, national clothes, cuisine, musical instruments. They also perform rituals of feeding the owner of water and the owner of fire, as they did hundreds of years ago, negotiating with the spirits of nature. Creating this picture, I rethought the Nivkh ornament, symbolizing the sea, waves, stones, added my own elements and depicted it in dynamics, which is just not typical of ornaments. My ornament from a static one breaks up into parts and transforms into the objects of which it consists: sea, waves, fish, seagulls. I wanted to show the inextricable connection between art and nature on the one hand, and nature and man - on the other, how fragile this world is and how we depend on it. I am planning to create a series of such pictures.
White Red Butterfly "Fertilis", 2020, Acrylic on canvas, 40 x 40 sm
In 2020 the Pantone Color Institute introduced a new shade of red and called it "Period". The vice-president of the institute said that the new color should inspire people with these periods. To say that this news impressed me is to say nothing. A month later, I was born a butterfly "Fertilis" - a symbol of eternal fertility and powerful vitality.
Painting "High Introvert", 2021, watercolor, oil on canvas, 70 x 80 sm
The picture reflects the path of a new reality. The idea for the painting arose from the rethinking of the "covid spring" of 2020, when the whole world was in isolation. Someone did it with difficulty, someone frankly suffered. But there are also those who blissed out. And their name is introverts! I am one of them. In terms of my feelings and in the opinion of my “high-class colleagues,” it was the most wonderful period, because I could be with myself, do something that my hands did not reach for a long time, and there was simply not enough time in the daily hustle and bustle. We suffered only from one thing: that sooner or later it would end. The painting depicts a silhouette of an introvert hovering over the planet, who throws from one hand to another a transparent sphere in the figures of people with it as a symbol of the fact that an introvert can allow himself to communicate with others only when the need arises. For him, this is a controlled process. He does not depend on the opinions of others. The state of solitude does not scare him, for him there is no concept of "loneliness" with that negative connotation that society imposes and which so scares others. On the contrary, it gives him the strength to create and soar above the earth. Loneliness does not exist. It was invented by those who do not live in harmony with themselves. The blurred watercolor background of the painting symbolizes reality - unstable, constantly changing. But an introvert always remains calm and quiet. Through this picture, I want to convey the idea that the path of a new reality lies through individuality, awareness and acceptance of oneself, because everyone has their own goal, their own meaning of life, their own result. Therefore, there is no fear that others talk about so much when it comes to the volatile present and unknown future.
Yin Yang Diptych, acrylic on paper, 50x70 sm
Yin Yang is a symbol of the agreement of opposites, masculine and feminine principles. The picture is painted with acrylic on special paper. The colors used are minimalistic - black and red. Black symbolizes the active masculine principle of the world, red - the perceiving feminine principle. A frame is required to place paintings on a wall. Hang the picture under glass.
Painting "Russia. 21st century. Emptiness", 2022, acrylic, paper, 50х70 sm
Painting from the collection "Russia. 21st century". Dedicated to the events taking place now, in 2022. Having opposed itself to the world community, it turned out that Russia is not able to fully exist, and destroys not only the neighboring state, but also itself. In animated form, the picture is available for sale in the NFT on Opensea.
Painting «Pumpkin life. Continuation". 2023. Acrylic on canvas, 50x70 cm
This painting was painted specifically for the international exhibition of contemporary art Artbox.project. New York 2.0. I never invent my paintings. Their images just appear in my imagination, ready-made. My paintings are the transformation of my knowledge, impressions, information into visual images and convey the essence of the phenomenon. It happened this time as well. The benefit performance of the famous artist Yayoi Kusama, her collaboration with the Louis Vuitton fashion house, her biography, her creative connection with New York - all this was born in my head in the form of this picture. She proved that the world and possibilities are endless. Limitations are only in our head.
If you want to buy or order a painting, or just to chat about art, write to me by e-mail or on social networks
