Alone with Myself

Sviatlana Petushkova's work is not something that can slip by unnoticed. The eye is drawn both to the large, bright planes and to their bold compositions. The style of painting is also unique in today's context, reminiscent of comics or manga illustrations, where everything is rendered in line and colour, and shadow, which is associated with the representation of three-dimensionality, is completely abandoned. This gives the paintings an openness - the artist avoids the mysteriousness of nudes, she does not try to conceal anything, but rather to show it as it is.

The artist's aim is to show that there is no part of the human body that is ugly, so she is always looking for provocative angles and new poses for her models, and she does not try to cover anything up. Please note that none of the women in the paintings show any modesty, they are all happy and enjoying their bodies.

The artist herself says of her work: "Art is my work, my passion and the meaning of my life. I am inspired by human beauty. I studied anatomy and composition at the Academy of Fine Arts and worked with nudes every day. After graduation I continued to study this field.

I work with the human body. I believe that all people are beautiful, regardless of age, weight, size and skin colour. Every day we are criticized, we try to conform to beauty standards and someone else's expectations, we debilitate ourselves with diets and plastic surgeries, but this only makes it harder to accept our own bodies. Instead of looking for beauty, we are constantly looking for flaws in ourselves.

My mission is to show that there are no flaws, that these are stereotypes. I want all people to see only beauty in each other! I hope that my work will help people all over the world to accept and love their bodies."

Svetlana graduated from the Gymnasium-College of Arts and the Belarusian State Academy of Fine Arts in Minsk, department of easel graphics.

Since 2008 she has been a member of the creative community "Neon Head" and regularly participates in exhibitions. She has held several solo exhibitions and has participated in more than ten group exhibitions.

In 2019 she became a member of the Belarusian Artists' Union, and founded the Belarusian House of Graphic Arts; the only printmaking workshop in Belarus.

She has also worked as a curator, organised exhibitions and festivals, run masterclasses and contributed in every way to the broadcasting of art in her homeland.

Following the controversial 2020 Belarusian elections, Sviatlana Petushkova was subjected to political repression and persecution, and was forced to flee the country in December of that year. She moved to Vilnius, Lithuania, where she has lived and worked ever since.