Darya Golubina
Oil Painter
Information
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Darya was born in Kiev, Ukraine and raised in Brooklyn, NY; moving to Beacon in 2018. She graduated from the School of Visual Arts, and while her preferred medium is oil paint or graphite, she splits her time between her painting studio and the photography studio she heads in NYC. In 2021 she stepped into the director role for the Beacon Open Studios Organization, bridging her love of community and art.
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“Naked in the Riverbed”
When I paint skin and bone, the body, I am transported to a parallel space. It exists around us always, but we rarely allow ourselves to seek refuge there. A realm of distinctive detail, vivid color, texture, and landscape. I study shadows, valleys, and the unique depths the body presents. When I paint a portrait, I faithfully follow the markers on the paths of the subject's face.
As an immigrant as a child, I often wrestle with a part of myself that regresses to an 8-year-old me. I would learn by listening and observing, unable to participate or use my voice. Now, I find myself studying, not asking when intrigued by a new person or place. How much can we know from merely watching our environment? What can the freckles on someone’s cheek tell us about their time spent under our sun? Where did they get that scar? The calluses on their hands, the hunching of their shoulders. Wordless communication. The human body changes in the same way the bank of a familiar river is reshaped over time. Morning light reveals the curve of a back, a belly, not unlike the curve of a mountain, the rounded side of a cliff carved by water. The setting sun deepens the green of a tree-lined valley, same as it chisels a ribcage. When I work I surrender to the terrain, sitting with it, learning from a feeling.”
My work is both figurative and abstract, a combination of the literal and the emotive. Each painting is created through a mix of fast, stream-of-conscious mark making, drying and layering, and thoughtful detail work.
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For inquiries and to purchase art, email supersecretprojectsny@gmail.com
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Darya Golubina’s Exhibitions at Super Secret Projects:
Click title below to view photo gallery