Tarantula: Authors And Art's Featured Artist of April
A Play Of Light and Shadow With Daria Aloshkina
My name is Daria Aloshkina and I am from Lviv, Ukraine. I create large-scale vignettes. These openwork panels have been the focal point of countless exhibitions and art projects in Poland, Germany, France, South Korea, Canada, USA, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark.
All ornaments are original to the very last detail. My quilts are handmade. The characteristic of the technique is symmetry. You may have seen a sheet of paper being folded in half and then figurines and ornaments were carved out. I do the same with huge sheets. Then I open the canvas and like a fantastic dream it is transformed into a filigree painting!
In my artistic career, I have created hundreds of square metres of canvases. All the vignettes are non-repetitive, because they are based on a first improvized sketch. I experiment with contemporary materials, which enable me to create everything from decorative canvases to perfect installations, theatrical scenery as well as to adorn public squares with them.
The focus of the vignettes is rich openwork, which is striking in its scale as well as the shadowing created by the openings against different lighting. The energy of manual labour cannot be counterfeited. The motifs of the vignettes have deep roots in traditional aesthetics. All of them have a contemporary authorial interpretation.
I created the vignettes for the French decorator Isabelle Daeron, who has been decorating the windows of Hermes statues in Japan and France for many years (a special project for the shop "All. My. Home and Décor"); decorated the stand of Ukrainian designers at the Paris Maison & Objet; created panels for Cartier's Kiev store and for the Oberig jewellery brand; and was invited by the Michelangelo Foundation to take part in the Venetian Biennale of Craft Art.
- Daria Aloshkina
Instead of welcoming the light as days started becoming longer in March and listening to the whispers of spring that was about to come, a dark shadow hang over our heads. As most of the world, we found ourselves glued to images coming from Ukraine.
After a sense of helplessness, an urgency to do something emerged, but also the question of what is the role of an artist in times of turmoil, or let’s call it by its real name: war. Are we even allowed to dream, brainstorm and create while there is so much destruction happening not so far away?
As images of caring museum workers flashed across our screens, wrapping sculptures and artwork, which they later took to a safe place in order to preserve Ukraine’s heritage, we all got goosebumps. Without art to fill their halls and rooms, the empty white museum walls became ghastly. After a few days, a realization came that when the destruction ends, beauty and creation is what will be needed.
The idea to feature Ukranian artists in April’s issue of Tarantula: Authors and Art surfaced, but felt farfetched. However, in the midst of chaos sometimes opportunity arises; we met a Lithuanian photographer and journalist Kristina Aleksynaitè who helped us find and interview two Ukrainian women artist, of which one is Daria Aloshkina, whose exquisite openwork panels we will showcase during the first two weeks of April.
In honour of our Ukrainian artists, we will donate all new yearly paid subscriptions that we get during the month of April to help Ukraine.
If you currently can’t help financially, help us spread the word! In addition to following Daria’s majestic work on Tarantula: Authors and Arts’ Substack page, follow us on Instagram for more of her art @tarantula_authors_and_art