POLINA CHISTYAKOVA

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Polina Chistyakova is an artist, designer and animator. Originally from Russia, she has been based in London since 2013. Ironic, playful and beautifully crafted, Chistyakova’s artworks combine contemporary visual media with European folk symbols and theatrical motifs. Political and dream-like at the same time, her works use fantasy as a lens through which to express the frustrations and fears of our current existence. Her painting Jester is currently on view at SKT Gallery’s exhibition Art At The Theatre from 10th-16th September 2020. 

Chistyakova has rarely shown her artworks in commercial spaces. Her first exhibition was ‘The Third Side of the Coin’ held at Bleeding Heart Studio, London, in 2018. For Chistyakova, her art is an ironic reflection of every possible facet of current living: people, political movements, international relationships, the body and mind duality, the Universe, and more. As well as paintings, she creates intricately-painted art objects. These range from Trump vs. Putin checkerboard pieces to wine glasses with Theresa May as a ‘Little Maymaid’, her tail decorated with Union Jack scales. These works strike the viewer as sardonic prototypes of product designs and packaging solutions.  

“I make works in order to make people laugh and think more deeply,” explains Chistyakova. She wants her works to communicate ideas and to inspire viewers to discover ways of conveying their own messages and sharing their own vision of the world: “all of my works are inspired by and created for other people.” Chistyakova is passionate about experimenting with a variety of traditional media including acrylic, glass, transfer paper and wood. Her painting Jester is striking in its simple harmony of shapes and paradoxical sense of space. The woman in the moon, dressed like a Joker, winks at us from inside a ephemeral bubble. Half-awake and half asleep, the Jester represents both the repose and the restlessness of “being inside a bubble of life”. 

Want to find out more about Polina Chistyakova? Visit her Instagram @thirdsidecoin for more information. 

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By Beatriz Santos

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