Olya Avstreyh. сцена/szena

In 2010, Olya Avstreyh graduated from the Faculty of Foreign Languages of the Moscow State University. After that, she moved to London, where she studied for two years as a media manager. In 2021, she graduated from the HSE School of Design with a degree in Contemporary Painting under the supervision of Vladimir Dubossarsky. In 2022, she participated in Ivan Gorshkov’s master class “Find and Improve.” She currently lives and works in Moscow. 

Solo exhibitions: 
- “Lights Out”, LOBBY, Moscow (2022) 

Selected group exhibitions: 
- “Monsters Under the Bed”, MaxArt Foundation x Third Place, St. Petersburg (2022) 
- “Light Plumage”, SERENE, Moscow (2022) 
- “Mixed Media”, New wing of the Gogol House, Moscow (2021) 
- “Tired Human”, HSE ART GALLERY, Moscow (2021) 
- “Through the Eyes”, Camden Image Gallery, London (2021) 
- “Everything Will Be All Right", White Room Foundation, Moscow (2020) 
- HSE x SAMPLE, HSE ART GALLERY, Moscow (2019) 

Online projects 
- “Videochat: Send Nudes”, HSE ONLINE GALLERY (2020) 

ARTIST STATEMENT: 

In my painting practice, I explore the fine line between reality and illusion. My goal is to grasp the elusive and ghostly states, to find the inner emptiness that we are so good at hiding. In today’s world, people feel themselves clumsy rather than natural; and I try to understand how to pinpoint this conflict between our projections and the internal perception of life. I explore bodily and sensual images and pay extra attention to bodily reactions as a mirror of our states; sometimes in the form of uneasy brokenness, or soft dissolution and merging. 

All my works balance between two extremes — chilling loneliness and neurotic carnival. For me, they are the flip sides of the same coin. These intense states, which can sometimes be rather repulsive, allow my characters to avoid a serious relationship with reality.