Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 11, 1993 TAG: 9302110152
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KEVIN KITTREDGE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
A FLIGHT FROM HOME
LIFE IN RUSSIA is so tedious right now that artist Katerina Grigoryeva wants her work to soar. . . .It's an odd place for art.
But every morning about dawn, in a Blacksburg neighborhood better known for its keg parties than its painters, Russian artist Katerina Grigoryeva goes to work.
Grigoryeva - whose emotional, subtly colorful paintings of almost flowers have appeared at exhibitions in Russia, Italy, Germany, Korea and Japan - has converted a bedroom of her apartment into a studio.
She came to the United States to visit her son, Virginia Tech aerospace engineering student Vasily Pankratov, and to promote her paintings.
Speaking through an interpreter, Grigoryeva said she is very impressed with the "beautiful nature" in Southwest Virginia and wants to paint some landscapes during her visit, which may last several months.
Blacksburg agrees with her.
"Nothing and nobody bothers her" here, said interpreter Oleg Kozhukhov. "She feels like she's in a corner of paradise."
Grigoryeva, who arrived in December, already has had an exhibit, titled "Soaring Dreams," at Roanoke's Studios on the Square.
"I thought it was fascinating to see what contemporary Russian artists are doing," said the studio's manager, Mimi Hodgin.
Grigoryeva's work also is scheduled to be included in an upcoming exhibit at the United Nations building in New York, according to a schedule of her exhibitions provided by the painter.
In addition, she plans a promotional trip to the West Coast this spring or summer before returning to Moscow.
One of her works will be featured in Virginia Tech's ArtStravaganza, an art auction held annually in Blacksburg. The proceeds go to a scholarship fund.
Works to be auctioned will be on exhibit at the Armory Art Gallery through Feb. 19. Registration deadline for the Feb. 20 auction is Monday.
Also featured at ArtStravaganza will be works by local artists Nadine Allen, Martha Dillard and Eric Fitzpatrick, as well as the work of Maryland printmaker Joseph Craig English, according to a Tech news release.
But perhaps the most unlikely artist represented at the sale is Grigoryeva.
A middle-aged woman with graying hair, a shy smile and no English at all, she arrived two months ago on her first visit to this country. She flew into Dulles International Airport and, after a brief tour of Northern Virginia, came to Blacksburg.
And went to work.
The painter's studio is empty of furniture except for an easel. The walls and carpet - even the window - are covered with sheets of paint-splattered plastic.
The walls of the hallway and den of the little apartment are lined with Grigoryeva's paintings. She showed a visitor several she has completed since her arrival.
Grigoryeva, who has sold paintings to collectors outside Russia, said the relatively stable Western currency not only pays the rent but helps her stay independent and focused on her work.
"It's very important for an artist to be independent," she said.
Her Virginia debut has been slow. None of the nine paintings at her Roanoke exhibit was sold, said officials at Studios on the Square - though this is not unusual. People often want to look at a painting several times before buying it, said Claire English, the gallery's retail sales manager.
Hodgin, the studios' manager, described Grigoryeva's work as "abstract and contemporary. There is a real sense of movement and freedom. . . . She says life in Russia right now is so difficult and tedious and dry that she wants the work to kind of take flight."
The fact that Grigoryeva's work already has appeared at European galleries and is slated to be exhibited at the United Nations says something about its quality, Hodgin said.
"Her work is priced accordingly," Hodgin added. Grigoryeva's paintings sell for $1,000 to $5,000.
"I find her work very fresh and exciting," said Derek Myers, who heads Tech's art department and has met the painter and seen her work. "It has a lot of roots in abstraction."
He noted the works often have a floral motif - though the flowers never quite materialize.
Myers also said the painter skillfully uses a technique known as "marbling," in which several tiny strands of color are painted with a single brush stroke.
"She has such a sure touch in what she does," Myers said.
Of the painting - "Autumn Fragrance" - Grigoryeva has offered for ArtStravaganza, Myers said, "I think this painting will grow on people. It just pulls and pulls you in. It's really nice."
Grigoryeva said she is not certain how long she will stay in the United States. Her visa is for an extended visit.
She said it is difficult just to survive in Russia right now.
But she also said she has no regrets about perestroika - which made it possible for her to exhibit outside her country - and about the changes that have followed in the former Soviet Union.
"Thanks to God it's happening. It's painful, but it's happening," Grigoryeva said.