“Seasons: Elena Burykina and Evelyn Wong”
February 3 through March 25, 2017

All are welcome to attend a wine and hors d’oeuvres reception in the gallery on Friday, February 3, 5:00-8:00 PM.
 
Gallery West presents the work of two extraordinary young women who are making themselves known in the art world near and far. Their work is influenced by very different cultures: Wong by Chinese art, and Burykina from her homeland of Russia and the Ukraine. The focus of this exhibition is their botanical images which span the seasons of the year.

The opening coincides with the celebration of the State Street First Friday Art Crawl for February.
 
Elena Burykina was born and raised in Ulan-Ude, Russia until her family left Russia for Ukraine in 1985. It was there in Ukraine where for the next fifteen years she received her first classical art education, studying drawing, painting, sculpture and art history, all greatly influenced by the Eastern European tradition. She completed a Bachelor’s degree in architecture and a Master’s in city planning. After working for more than a decade as an architect, she felt the pull to return to her art full time. She moved to the United States in 2013 and now resides in Chattanooga, Tennessee. 

Burykina is proficient in the use of oils and watercolors. In 2016 she took a class in linoleum block printmaking and found a new love which she translated into a body of work focusing on flowers and bridges. In addition, there is a delightful series which captures the escapades of her cat, Kuzia. “My thoughts and emotions come to life (in my art) as realistic images and abstract forms….the style depending on the theme, genre, and emotional presence.” Burykina’s work in this exhibition will include linocut, watercolor, and oil.

South Carolina-based artist, Evelyn Wong, appreciates a careful study of nature with all of her subjects drawn from life, en plein air (outdoors), and at different points in the season during which time each plant is growing or withered, reflecting the changing seasons of the year. “In traditional Chinese landscape painting, the image not only served as a source of visual information, but also expressed philosophy and emotions.” Wong’s drawings share in this very principle where she communicates nature’s expressiveness.

In her Gallery West show, she is presenting a body of work which, in her words, she has done “just for fun”, a series of miniature drawings of trees as they appear throughout the year.  Though each drawing is no larger than 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches, each captures a precious and powerful moment in the cycle of nature.