Diana Derbedeneva

 

CV

EDUCATION:

2017-2018        Artist Workshop of Anatoliy Zaslavsky, Saint Petersburg,       Russia

2009-2013        Artist Workshop of Nikolay Malykhin, Vyborg, Russia

1998-2004        Saint Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design, Major: Paintings Conservator, Saint Petersburg, Russia

1997-1998        Artist Workshop of Lilia Potselueva, Saint Petersburg, Russia

1994-1998        State professional educational institution “Restoration College 27”, Major: Monumental Paintings Conservator-Designer Artist, Saint Petersburg, Russia

 

EXHIBITIONS:

2024                 “From the collection of Gurevich M. and Domzho R.”, Seti Gallery, Saint Petersburg, Russia

2024                 “Graphics Boundaries”, Creative Union of Artists, Saint Petersburg, Russia

2019                 “Apartment 16”, Vera Hotel, Saint Petersburg, Russia

2018                 “Around Andreevsky”, “The Secret of Apartment 16”, Trezzini Art Hotel, Saint Petersburg, Russia

2010-2013       Thematic exhibitions, Art Hall, Hermitage-Vyborg art gallery, Vyborg, Russia

 

COLLECTIONS:

• Art Center Fund “Brusnika”, Ekaterinburg, Russia
• Collection of the Law Firm “Verbitskaya-Linnik and Partners”, Moscow, Russia
• Private Collection of Rostislav Domzho
• Private Collection of Alexey Mashevsky
• Other Russian and foreign private art collections

 

ARTIST STATEMENT

Since 2018 I have been passionate about figure painting as an independent art style. I am inspired by the intimacy of the human body, its diversity, beauty and imperfection.

My works are dynamic, on average 7 minutes per sketch. They may seem complex as I often paint over my works if not satisfied with the result. The paper size I use is A2 and larger. I paint mostly with acrylic – this material allows me to paint either densely or transparently, glazing, achieving complexity and depth of colour, which is especially important for me. Colour is my Universe – with its subtlety and variability of combination.

Since I am a graduated paintings conservator, I had the opportunity to study the technology and painting methods of old masters. This influenced my formation as an artist a lot.

Sketching allows me to freely express my emotions, sharpens my peripheral vision, which lets me to see the process as if I were not participating in it. I would describe it as a state of trance. When analysing my works later, I often catch myself not remembering how they were created.

Art is not just my interest – it’s is my need, through which I examine the world and myself in it.

 

BIO

I always knew I was meant to be an artist, although the environment I grew up in was not particularly conducive to this. I was born in 1979 in Leningrad, Soviet Union and had poor heath from birth, so I spent most of my childhood in hospitals. My mother, a nurse, raised me on her own, and we lived in a medical dormitory.

I started painting from early childhood and at the age of 13 was accepted to the Kustodiev Children’s Art School. Later, I continued my art education by entering the Restoration College and then entered the Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design. Having successfully completed my education, I moved to Vyborg, Russia and lived and worked there from 2008 to 2014. There I met the talented artist Nikolai Alekseevich Malykhin, who became my close friend and teacher. It was also there that I first began to participate in group exhibitions at the Hermitage-Vyborg Art Hall and other venues.

After moving back to St. Petersburg, in 2017 I met the famous artist Anatoly Savelyevich Zaslavsky, who had a strong influence on my formation as an artist. Attending his art studio “Apartment 16” helped me to figure out the genre where I want to develop and where I feel my strength and confidence – nude.

As a creative person, I also have some other skills and interests. I participated in an archaeological expedition from The State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. I also worked as a furniture designer. Now I am passionate about mosaic and making jewelry. There were periods in my life when I didn’t paint at all. Other priorities came first, such as family, children, home. But every time, despite everything, I return to my artist nature – only in this do I find the true meaning of life.