The paintings of Svetlana Sintseva amalgamate East with West and contemporary art with classical tradition. Calling herself a “contemporary Belgian Baroque painter,” Sintseva honors the expertise and mastery of Golden Age Dutch artists with her skillfully executed works. Sintseva eschews technology of any kind and makes use of conventional painting mediums. Most of her works are done in oil pigments, she makes herself, on bulky compressed wooden planks. She focuses on creating still-lifes and portraiture in the style of Rubens and Rembrandt, her two biggest role models. “In a society which is dominated by technology my form of art can be viewed as unique because I don’t utilize pictures or any other means of technology to create art,” she says. Inspired by her Russian heritage, she combines Asian influences with a European approach, producing her own inimitable art style that’s purely Sintseva. “I feel that these two cultures are harmonious and, inspired by this bond, I try to portray the themes in my painting in a very unique manner,” she says.
The Asian influence in Sintseva’s work can be seen in the clothing, objects, fruit, and flowers she chooses to portray. It is also evident in her use of color, favoring deep, rich tones of garnet and blue. The result are paintings that have a quality of the exotic, made even more alluring with Sintseva’s soft contouring that balances out the naturalism in her work. Still-lifes appear as if in a fevered dream, not quite solid enough to grab hold of, while Sintseva’s portraits challenge viewers with unexpected poses and unusual props.
www.sintseva-art.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Svetlana_Sintseva.aspx