Biography:

Victoria Kovalenchikova was born 28.05.1978 in Mogilev, Belarus, lives and works in Amsterdam (The Netherlands) since 2008.

Education :

1996 – 2002 – Belarusian State Academy of Arts, Painting Department, professors M. Danzig, V. Gerasimov and V. Tyurin, Minsk, Belarus.

1990 – 1996 – I. Akhremchik National Art College, Minsk, Belarus.

Professional experience:

2002 – 2004 – Teacher of painting and drawing at Belarusian State Pedagogic University, Minsk.

Since 1997 more than 100 solo shows and group exhibitions in Belarus, The USA, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Russia, Singapore, Turkey, China and The Netherlands.

Since 2003 member of Belarusian Artists’ Union.

Awards:

2011 – Award from The Ministry of Culture of The Republic of Belarus for Enriching and Promoting Arts and Culture.

2011 – First Prize and Gold Medal of Honor “LORENZO Il MAGNIFICO” at the VIII International Florence Biennale of Contemporary Art 2011 for her paintings “NO EXIT”, 2011 and “Reflected Reality”, 2010.

Kovalenchikova’s works can be found in art collection of company Philips in High Tech Campus, Eindhoven, The Netherlands; RABO Bank, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Museum of Russian Art, Jersey City, The USA; Museum of Belarusian State Academy of Arts, Minsk; Contemporary Fine Art Museum, Minsk, Belarus; The National Art Museum of The Republic of Belarus, Minsk; Maslennikov Art Museum, Mogilev, Belarus; Romanov Regional Study of Local Lore Museum, Mogilev, Belarus; Mogilev Museum of Ethnography, Belarus; Belarusian Embassy in Berlin, Germany; Belarusian Embassy in The Hague, The Netherlands; Belarusian Embassy in London, United Kingdom; collection of the municipality of Coevorden, The Netherlands; collection of The Kolodzei Art Foundation, NYC, NY, The USA; other private collections in Germany, Poland, Russia, Belarus, The USA, The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Spain, France, Lebanon, Singapore, China, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Turkey, France and Switzerland, India.

Artist Statement:

I have travelled the world, from my native Belarus to Asia, the Americas, and other parts of Europe. I have had the great fortune to interact with people from around the globe and absorb its many cultures.

What I wish to show in my new Earth series is that our planet itself is a work of art—a kaleidoscope of colors, a patchwork of patterns; an interconnected sphere without beginning or end. Viewing it from space, using Google images, I want this collection to showcase this amazing entity, in order that we may appreciate and ultimately save it.

We sometimes need a new perspective. I want people to see the wonder of the world from above; perhaps as an eagle sees it from a mountain aerie, a pilot from the cabin of his airplane or the astronaut from the surface of the moon. A mufti-hued orb spinning among thousands of other stars, yet unique.

While my earlier series zoomed in on the tight confines of urban life in our metropolises–connecting people to the intimacy of their living spaces–the Earth series zooms out, taking the long view of our home from the skies above. My mixed-media creations radiate the colors of each continent; I try to bring the textures of the planet alive, so that you can feel the heat of the volcanoes, the parched thirst of the massive deserts, the cool blues of our all-encompassing oceans. Some parts are smooth, and some are rough and rugged.

Although we humans may feel like disconnected, independent fragments, Earth reminds us that we are all united on this place: notes within a larger symphony of life. No different from the massive whale in the ocean or the tiniest needle of a pine tree. There is no way out; to save ourselves we must save our home.