My name is Tatiana Rakitina, Russian artist based in Moscow. I approaches my art with the conviction that painting serves as a unique “Esperanto of the soul” like a universal language that transcends cultural barriers to connect people heart-to-heart through shared emotions and spiritual resonance. I discovered this powerful medium relatively late. After establishing a career focused on educational projects, financed by IBRD and alumni community development at the Higher School of Economics (HSE) following academic background in Linguistic&Intercultural Communications and Public Administration.
My life took a pivotal turn when I enrolled in the Interior Design program at IDS – International Design School. I made a decisive shift towards visual arts in 2014. After my first plein air session in the ancient town Suzdal marked the beginning of my enduring “romance with painting”. I graduated from the Surikov Moscow State Academic Art Institute (MGAHI), painting department, workshop of Zaitsev George. I find my purest expression in the venerable medium of oil painting. Its richness, depth and unparalleled capacity to capture light and texture allow me to explore the subtle interplay of form and emotion. It is no coincidence that the ancient Greeks understood harmony as a universal category of existence, an understanding inherent in us from the moment we enter this world. Painting is more than an art form. Yet, Leonardo considered PAINTING to be the granddaughter of Nature and kin to God. So I hope that divine harmony drives my creative core. In each brushstroke I aim to translate the observed harmony of nature and the complexity of the human spirit onto the canvas.
Portrait is my favorite genre. My works seeks to capture fleeting essence and contemplative depth within an individual. More than a likeness, the portrait is an intimate dialogue, an attempt to reveal the unique inner world of a person illuminated through the subject’s gaze – that very “window” Leonardo describes.
My art is an act of reverence for the enduring power of classical painting, of the profound mystery of the individual before me and the reverence for that universal harmony which connects all of us. I deeply believe in the healing and spiritual power of art seeing its creation and appreciation as profoundly transformative experiences. My works reflects this belief aiming to communicate emotion and harmony of the world and shared humanity through the medium of oil paint.
