Ilya Volykhine
Collection
Emerging from behind the iron curtain, my paintings, and works on paper, capture the underlying forces that dominate and determine the conditions of the human psyche. Ink, liquid graphite, charcoal, pastels, oils, homemade dyes... Layering, cutting away, pasting over, collage.
Using old time-worn copies of hand-written letters in Russian Cyrillic from my mother & father and copies of text from my old Russian poetry books, seeking to interweave pieces from the language of my childhood to add layers of texture, meaning, and personal history to my work based on everyday life and situations.
My works are poignant, as well as darkly comic.
The narratives are loose, playful, and chaotic.
My characters are battling their way through the anxieties and joys of life. I've been a professional artist since 1995 and have lived and exhibited in New York City, Sydney, Melbourne, Los Angeles, Maui, Tallinn, and throughout New Zealand since 2
My work features recently in the new QT Hotel Rooftop Bar in Auckland viaduct, the new EBB Hotel in Dunedin, and the NZ 2021 Home of the Year.
I'm currently represented by Artbay Gallery in Auckland & Queenstown, Gallery De Novo in Dunedin, Singulart in France, Saatchi Art in the USA, and Art Sleuth in Hong Kong. Became a citizen of New Zealand in 2020 and considered NZ my home.