Sasha Sokolova

Born in Moscow into a family of artists, Sasha Sokolova is an award winning contemporary realist painter, working across a range of traditional oil and water colour techniques. Her current works explore a variety of themes spanning the human figure and nature and feature many of the travel destinations from which she draws much of her inspiration. Following scholarships from the V. Spivakov fund and Young Talents Fund, Sasha graduated with honours from the Sergey Andriyaki School of Watercolour and Fine Arts in Moscow and went on to complete a Masters of Fine Arts at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography. Sasha was selected as the only Russian artist to work on the Oscar nominated "Loving Vincent", the first fully painted feature film. Sasha exhibits regularly in Russia and throughout Europe. 

In 2021 Sasha's painting “The Last Portrait" was awarded Honourable Mention in ModPortrait 2021 and will be exhibited with other finalists in Zaragoza and Barcelona. Her works are held in private collections around the world, including Australia, Canada, United States, Great Britain, throughout Europe and Russia. 

Sasha lives and works between Moscow and Barcelona. Artist Statement I was born into a creative family and knew from the start that I would become an artist. My grandfather was a professional painter trained in the classical Soviet system and he taught me drawing and painting from the time I could hold a brush. He was a strict teacher which at the time I didn't like at all but I appreciate that now as the discipline was an important balance to my artistic nature. At the same time I was studying music so I was brought up to understand harmony and to love art. As well as studying the classical multilayer techniques of watercolour painting and drawing, I also did courses in miniature enamel painting, mural painting and etching. These painstaking activities taught me to love and to develop detail and that is still a feature of my work today, whether working in oil on a large canvas, or a simple sketch on a train. 

At university I specialised in costume design with an emphasis was on imagination and self-expression. This gave me a broader arts education, not only the academic discipline in painting and drawing techniques but also the practical application in cinema – from modelling and dress making to styling and participating in the whole production process.