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I was born in Uzbekistan, and spent the first 30 years of my life there. I studied Art at the Republic Art College in Tashkent under Professor Mikhail Sorkin. While I was preparing my diploma work - a series of illustrations for the "Decameron" by Boccaccio - I opened an art gallery in Tashkent called "27 Square Metres", with my friend and partner Oksana Saychenko. After two years in business I realised that I needed to live in a country with a thriving art market. So, in 2000, I moved to London, where I met my future husband Tim Roche. We organised our first exhibition together, at the Arndean Gallery in Cork Street in London. Later, we moved to Rye, in East Sussex, and opened our own gallery in 2002. Roche Gallery is situated in the High Street of the lovely old town of Rye. Mostly we show my own work, although there are also artworks by some of my fellow artists from Uzbekistan. We provide framing services as well. I work in most traditional media: oil, watercolour, tempera, pencil, ink and various types of printmaking. There is no genre of art which I prefer above all others, although portraiture is probably the most challenging and rewarding to me. Still Life offers me the opportunity to indulge in the technical nuances of working with colour and texture. I like sketching, especially with ink on paper. Some of the most interesting drawings eventually end up as original prints - dry point, etching, or mezzotint; monoprint or linocut. Recently I have started trying my hand at landscapes, inspired by the views from my new studio. |