Victoria Tushnova

Flesh Daizy, 5.5 inches long, 5 inches wide, Polymer clay, oil paint and enamel, 2018

Petunia, 7 inches across, 4.5 inches high, 5 inches wide, Polymer clay, oil paint and enamel, 2018

Missed not Missing” series (installation shot), 2018

Shaved, 8.5x13 in, Oil on wood panel, 2018

Miss X, 11x14 in, Oil on stretched Canvas, 2017

Noswig, 4 inches long ,1.5 inches across, Polymer clay, Oil paint and enamel, 2018

Cyclap, 5 inches long, 2 inches across, polymer clay, Oil paint and enamel, 2018

Valentine, 11x 14 in, Oil on stretched canvas 2017

Organoid, 11.5x 13 in, Oil on Wood Panel,2018

Artist Statement

Skin, simulation of bodily fluids, buildup, and the execution of various characters help to create and complete a never-ending personal narrative in my work. Portraiture gives the right to represent truth, or complete lies with conviction. The process is painting the face and body in various phases such as Post Mortem, and Subconsciously Extraterrestrial. Auras become attached and visible through each stroke and choice of palette. Traumatic residue is presented in wrinkles and wounds. what each face gives away with its expression and how the smallest of manipulations can change an entire identity. Work that can be housed but not easily inhabit a home or interior space is my practice. My work has two parts. One aspect includes using archival footage; consisting of crime and Morgue photography to represent Cold case victims. The other consists of me working solely from my subconscious, which allows me to create fantastical creatures. An influence that I often turn to is Hieronymus Bosch, and the beasts depicted during the Middle ages. A subsection of Creationism- titled; “Creaturism” – places the artist as the almighty creator. Beauty standards as well as what the true definition of a portrait is, are themes that I think about while working.