Edited by Randi Bjornstad
A new exhibit of work by Eugene artist Olga Volchkova has opened at the Karin Clarke Gallery, titled Forest Communities, a reflection on the the artist’s long nature advocacy as well as her artistic training in Eastern Orthodox iconography and icon painting.
The large show of new paintings includes renderings of native plants and animals of the Pacific Northwest, with an emphasis on the interconnection among flora, fauna, and humans. It includes 18 new works that vary in size as well as a wide variety of ways of approaching its plant an animal subjects, including a greater use of vertical formats.
In addition to her devotion and experience to the ideals of traditional iconography, this show demonstrates a new way of integrating the artist’s formal study with her experiences of rural life and gardening, as well as observations of the complexities of nature in the wild environment, examining the relationships among plants and other living organisms and how they cooperate to benefit each other.
In another artistic development, Volchkova also has turned her attention to portraying life in the ocean, including such pieces titled Saint Kelp Forest and Miracle of the Ocean Community.
Volchkova grew up in the former Soviet Union, and studied chemistry as well as art, training also in art restoration. Her work has been shown widely, in both the United States and internationally, including a recent show at the Museum of Russian art in Minneapolis, Minn.
Karin Clarke Gallery
Where: 760 Willamette St., Eugene
Hours: Noon to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday
Information: 541-684-7963 or karinclarkegallery.com
