Alice in Wonderland behind the Iron curtain
Filed Under Kitchen Curtain | Posted on September 24, 2008
A new world lurks in Leila Ataya’s acrylic canvases. The Russian artist has dipped into her own background for her latest solo exhibition, “Long Story about Life”. “Most of my current works depict a magical world, where illusion and reality blur,” she says.
“The represented world is like a fly-agaric; so bright, attractive and beautiful, but filled with poison.” “This time it is a personal show and it’s quite exciting,” she says. “I think it’s a journey of my life in painting. From Russia to New Zealand. I came to New Zealand when I was 16 and I couldn’t speak any English. It was very exciting, but it was also very hard. I love being here in New Zealand. It’s very relaxed and beautiful.”
The acrylic-on-board and canvas works featured in the 2006 edition of New Zealand’s Favourite Artists by Denis Robinson.
“I did a lot of training as an artist in Russia when I was younger. Art education is more structured in Russia in some ways. It’s a more traditional old-fashioned style,” Ataya says.
“An apple you would paint and paint until you got it perfect. Here, you learn different ways of presenting objects. It’s more about the conceptual. Even in your first year as a student here, there is pressure to present conceptual stuff.
“Most art in New Zealand is conceptual. It makes people think a lot harder. There’s a good side to that and a negative side.
“In Russia, you might want to do conceptual art, but you can’t. You have to copy and copy and copy.”
Ataya was just 16 when she was accepted into the Russian Arts College, in Moscow.
“I did a lot of different things, from ceramics to Russian decorative styles and icon writing. I also specialised in lacquer miniatures, which are decorative boxes. It’s a traditional Russian style.”
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