Artist statement
Painting makes me happy, and I find meaning in it. I feel like a creator when I let the beauty of the external world pass through me and reflect my impressions on a blank canvas, creating something new.
I enjoy painting flowers, landscapes, and portraits. Whether working outdoors on plein air or in the studio, I discover beauty in simple forms, playing with light and shadow to reveal their true essence, which I want to share with the viewer. Outdoors, the eye captures numerous shades that, reflected in the painting, bring it to life.
I prefer working with traditional materials, using oil paints and brushes. By using my fingers, I infuse my energy into each stroke and brushstroke, while the texture of the oil helps to express it. I work without expecting a finished painting. I enjoy the process itself, trusting chance and intuition. I love the unpredictable results of my creativity, it’s truly mesmerizing.
Biography
Olena Kolotova was born in Ukraine. Her childhood was spent in a creative atmosphere in the picturesque town of Horyshni Plavni on the bank of the Dnipro River. Involvement in a music school and participation in a vocal ensemble formed a love for classical music and a passion for everything beautiful. Life with her grandparents in a village during summer vacations forever colored in her soul the beauty of Ukrainian Polissya, forests, rivers, and fragrant meadows.
At the age of 15, while visiting the Carpathians, Olena was fascinated by the splendor of the winter fairy tale in Dragobrat, the grandeur of snow-covered fir trees. Since then, as Olena recalls, the idea of capturing her impressions and feelings of the surrounding nature in a painting never left her mind.
In order to achieve mastery, Olena studied under prominent painters of Ukraine such as Leonid Levchenko, Vera Krutilina, and Anatoliy Tverdoy. Later, she enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture, specializing in painting.
Artist follows the achievements of the Ukrainian academic school of painting, works a lot on plein air, and paints portraits and still lifes from life.
Since 2017, the artist has been participating in group exhibitions in Ukraine and abroad. Her works are held in the collection of the Karas Gallery, Kyiv, Cherkasy Regional Art Museum, Slovac Embassy, Kyiv and in private collections in Ukraine, Germany, Poland, USA and others.
Selected group exhibitions
2021 All-Ukrainian Christmas exhibition, National Union of Artists of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
2021 International exhibition of landscapes at the Kuindzhi Center of Contamporary art, National Union of Artists of Ukraine, Mariupol, Ukraine
2021 All-Ukrainian exhibition «Graphics in Kharkiv», Kharkiv organization of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, Kharkiv, Ukraine
2021 Tirana International watercolor biennale, «Still life», National Historical Museum,Tirana, Albania
2021 «Apple blossom», graphics. Вedicated to the 130th anniversary of the birth of
2021 1st Singapore IWS International Watercolor Festival and Exhibition, Singapore
2021 International Watercolor Exhibition, «A breath of watercolor», Boryspil, Ukraine
2021 International watercolor online exhibition, Japan International Watercolor Institute, Niigata
2020 Christmas light, International watercolor project, Gdansk, Poland.
2019 International project «A4 Ballpoint Pen», Karas Gallery, Kyiv, Ukraine
2019 Watercolor festival in the city of Urbino, Italy
2019 1st International Exhibition «Let’s Make Watercolor Famous Again», Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, Romania
2019 International watercolor exhibition «Miniwatercolor», Kyiv, Ukraine
2019 International triennial the Traveling philosophy of Gregory Skovoroda within All-Ukrainian creative project-competition «Art NOVA», Kremenchug Organization of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, Kremenchug City Art Gallery, Kremenchug, Ukraine
2019 Al-Ukrainian Art Exhibition dedicated to the Day of the Artist, Kharkiv Organization of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, Kharkiv, Ukraine
2019 International and All-Ukrainian Watercolor Exhibition “DNI-PRO”, Cherkasy Regional Art Museum, Cherkasy, Ukraine
2019 International Watercolor Exhibition & Contest «Watercolor Monologues», Lviv, Ukraine
2019 “Colors of the World”, the Central artist’s building in Kiev. The work “White guard” was chosen among the top 20 at the exhibition and presented at the Slovac Embassy, Kyiv, Ukraine
2018 Finalist of the 1st season online International Watercolor competition «Step by Step», IWS Poland
2018 “Summer memo ries”, The Museum of Lesi Ukrainki, Kyiv, Ukraine
Awards
2021 Merrite award, 1st Singapore IWS International Watercolor Festival and Exhibition, Singapore
2019 “Colors of the World”, top 20, Kyiv, Ukraine
Collections
Karas Gallery, Kyiv, Ukraine
Cherkasy Regional Art Museum, Cherkasy, Ukraine
Slovac Embassy, Kyiv, Ukraine
Privat collections in Ukraine, Germany, Poland, USA.