Shattered 2019
16×20 inches
oil on canvas, silver leaf, metal plaque.
“If Giorgio Morandi broke one of his beloved dishes”.
This painting is a story of my young marriage. I find a broken plate a perfect metaphor for human relationship. You can glue the pieces back, but you will still see the crack. If you hurt your loved ones, you can try and make it up to them, but the scar will always be there.
I’ve had the metal plaque “I’ll make it up to you” on the frame, but the gallery visitors kept perceiving it as a work’s title. One day I got mad and screwed the plaque into the canvas and all the way into strecther bars. Now its obviously part of the artwork.
#Avotoast 2019
Watercolor, 11×14 inches
I was reading about pop-art and depiction of food attracted me. Warhol and Lichtenstein painted food as a marker of consumption, that is accessible to many. I feel that the culture has come back again to the point where we fetishise our food. We share it on our social media. We discuss it like never before – “this is full of chemicals, this one is too much sugar, this is a liquid heart attack”. We even let food shape our personal narratives. We show morality through dietary habits. “I’m vegan” “I do meatless mondays” “I only it organic”.
So I thought, what if a pop-artist like Lichtenstein was inspired by someone’s Instagram feed? So I’ve created this image, with several key elements, that are all over modern restaurants. Farmhouse table, rough unfinished wood. Vintage plate. And of course, fresh, locally and responsibly sources organic food.
Still Life With a Boot 2020
Oil and cold wax, 24×30 inches.
In 2018 I have completed Camino de Santiago. It is a walking piligrimage across Spain to the city of Santiago De Compostela. 800 kilometers by foot over the course of a month.
After completing this walk, I couldnt wear my boots anymore. I also couldnt really fly with a stinky pilgrim boot tied to my backpack.
So I washed it. And spraypainted it white. It still smelled pretty bad, though. So I flew back home with a batch of lavender, stuck into the boot, praying that people on the plain wouldnt notice it.
Its been over the shelf in my room for a while, and even though after coats of spaypaint chemicals it didn’t smelle bad anymore, I knew I had to get rid of the old boot. But I wanted to preserve it in the most honorable way. So here’s the painting.
Note: The text above was written by the Artist. No modification was made by COCA.
Tatiana Zalapskaia
United States
I am a self-taught, relatively young (27) late bloomer (started a year ago) artist.
I’m Russian, but for last year I reside in US. In states, I have an opportunity to exibit and sell my work without judment or being juried. I exibit in three local galleries (Beaufort Art Association, Society of Bluffton Artist, Hilton Head Art League). I also volunteer in local art association.
I’ve sold a decent amount of work over my first year, but I’m not sure if my work has artistic value. I’d love to learn, where to start to be recognised institutionally.