ABOUT IRENE MAKAROVA

IRENE MAKAROVA is a contemporary painter based in London

ARTIST STATEMENT

My practice revolves around my interest in something invisible that hides behind the visible world, exploring the boundary between the familiar and the unfamiliar, and immersing deep into something incomprehensible that stands beyond the human.

I start with live sketches of people I make in everyday life which I then transform by integrating them with my internal feeling of the non-human. This results in figurative oil paintings with creatures that may resemble people but with animal-like paws or hands dissolving or flowing into other objects. It may also be creatures with animal bodies and beastly legs while their hands remain human.

Drawing inspiration from ancient miniatures, faces of medieval tomb sculptures, and anthropomorphic animals featured in the bas-reliefs of ancient white stone and medieval architecture, I strive to merge recognisable human features with elements that evoke a sense of otherness. This blending of the human and not entirely human allows me to create figures that evoke a sense of familiarity while retaining a disturbing strangeness.

The theme of multiple faces or heads on a single body fascinates me, as it symbolises the multifaceted nature of identity and perception. This multiplicity reflects my interest in the unseen forces and hidden layers that underlie our visible world. The faces of medieval tomb statures deeply inspire me. They appear almost human, yet possess a quality that sets them apart, hinting at something beyond the ordinary. Their hard-to-read expressions make them look both human and not human at the same time. This sense of the non-human is not meant to be scary, but rather to show something hidden beyond the familiar, a deeper reality that I try to reveal in my work.

My painting is a way of creating a visual structure to penetrate the labyrinths of the human essence that defies easy interpretation.

Education
2019 – Contemporary art course (HSE University, Russia)
2018 – Painting and drawing course (Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after V. I. Surikov, Russia)
2008 – MARKHI (State Academy of Architecture), Design of Architectural Environment.
2005 – Studied painting at the Studio of the Russian artist Konstantin Kaufman since 2005

Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 – 'Summer Show' (current exhibition - July, 16 - September, 10), Shtager & Shch Gallery, London, UK
2024 – 'Fallacious Memory', Walcot Chapel Gallery, Bath, UK
2023 – 'ThreadED', Fringe Arts Bath Festival, Bath, UK
2022 – 'WOW' curated by Ksenia Gorbatyuk, ZDES na Taganke Art Gallery, Moscow, Russia
2022 – 'Fragile Feminity', Marina Balkizova Art Studio, Moscow, Russia
2022 – 'Shooting Stars', ZDES na Taganke Art Gallery, Moscow, Russia
2021 – 'Looking after the Earthlings', ZDES na Taganke Art Gallery, Moscow, Russia

Exhibitions with TM-Studia art group (member 2005-2019)
2019 – 'Sub specie aeternitatis', Rene Capitant Hall, Paris, France
2019 – 'The Sun in the Space of the Moon', Luna Art Gallery, Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia
2019 – Participation in the Senlis art festival, Senlis, France
2018 – 'Foret dan le Ciel', the French-Japanese Cultural Association Tenri, Paris, France
2018 – 'Sky Labyrinths', Rene Capitant Hall, Paris, France
2017 – 'Russia – UK. Magical Meetings', the art hall of Mayfair School of English, London, UK
2017 – 'Russia-France. On the Roads of Miracle', Mairie du5eme, Paris, France
2017 – 'Shades of Wonderful from Russia', Nautic club, Cambrils, Spain
2016 – Exhibition of TM – Studia artists, Sorrento, Italy
2015 – Exhibition of TM-Studia artists, 'Galeria, 15', Paris, France
2015 – 'The Bed of the Magic River', the Russian Museum of Photography, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
2014 – Exhibition in the Central House of Artists, Moscow, Russia
2013 – Participation at the International Art Festival, Turku, Finland
2013 – Exhibition of TM-Studia artists, AVA-Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2012 – 'Summer Meetings. Autumn', Art hall of the Russian-German Meeting Center in Saint-Petersburg, Russia
2011 – Exhibition in the Central House of Artists, Moscow, Russia
2010 – 'Different Meetings at the Hills of Miracle', Art hall of Bulgarian Cultural Institute, Moscow, Russia
2010 – Christmas exhibition, State Exhibition Hall 'Na Kashirke', Moscow, Russia
2008 – 'The Very Different Sides of Miracle - Shades of Miracle', Nizhny Novgorod State Exhibition Complex, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
2006 – 'The Inner Side of Miracle', Khodynka State Exhibition Hall, Moscow, Russia
2005 – 'Magic Flight or Experience of Positive Allocation', Russian Museum of Photography, Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia

Exhibitions curated
(TM-Studia exhibitions and art projects in 2010 - 1019, the most significant of which are):
2019 – 'Sub specie aeternitatis', Rene Capitant Hall, Paris, France (in collaboration with Konstantin Kaufman)
2019 – 'The Sun in the Space of the Moon', Luna Art Gallery, Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia (in collaboration with Konstantin Kaufman)
2018 – 'Sky Labyrinths', Rene Capitant Hall, Paris, France (in collaboration with Konstantin Kaufman)
2017 – 'Russia – UK. Magical Meetings', the art hall of Mayfair School of English, London, UK
2016 – Exhibition of TM – Studia artists, Sorrento, Italy (in collaboration with Konstantin Kaufman)
2014 – Exhibition of TM – Studia artists in the Central House of Artists, Moscow, Russia
2013 – Exhibition of TM-Studia artists, AVA-Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2012 – 'Summer Meetings. Autumn', Art hall of the Russian-German Meeting Center in Saint-Petersburg, Russia
2010 – 'Different Meetings at the Hills of Miracle', Art hall of Bulgarian Cultural Institute, Moscow, Russia

Art Fairs
2016 – ART-Russia, Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia
2014 – Art Shopping, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France (Artist represented by AVA Gallery (Finland)

Collections
Works are in private collections in England, Scotland, Russia, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Finland, the USA and the Czech Republic.