The Post Gallery

Last week I met a beautiful and generous woman on a sailboat. Let me explain. We were both invited separately by a mutual friend for a Memorial Day weekend boat outing. Her name is Oxana Agarkova. She’s a tall, fit women with flowing red hair. When I met her she was wearing a black bikini and oversized rose colored sunglasses. Her energy was artsy but not at all pretentious. She surprised everyone on the boat by bringing a large platter of delicious Russian pastries called Piroshkis she had baked the night before.

Okay, so that all sounds grand, but what does this story have to do with art. Well, after Oxana and I began chatting, I learned she is a talented local artist. Oxana hails from Chelyabinsk, Russia. She speaks with a fairly heavy Russian accent. When you speak to her, you immediately feel a good vibe. She’s has a disarming smile and exudes kindness.

The more I learned of Oxana’s story, the more I was fascinated. Oxana grew up in a small town in the Russian province of Orenburg on the banks of the Ural River. She has loved and studied art since she was a child. However, not sure if art would pay the bills, Oxana ended up studying engineering while at university. Then, after university she worked in a steel factory to support her family while her son was in preschool. She worked day and night shifts. She soon realized engineering and factory work was not her passion. She went back to fashion design school and continued her art education. Shortly after finishing design school, she moved to California and concentrated on her art full time. Her children also moved with her to California. Her oldest son is a filmmaker and tech designer (who knows, maybe he’ll be the the next Jony Ive from Apple). And her youngest son who is 19 has developed a love for fashion design just like his mom. He has already created a successful fashion line, which you can find on Instagram @berlinc.co

After our boating trip and knowing my love for art, Oxana invited me to see her work. I drove from the boat marina to her house where she has her art studio. I arrived to a large and beautiful home in Laguna Beach. I stepped in the door and was overwhelmed by literally hundreds of large canvas paintings covering nearly every square inch of the walls of her home. Before this I didn’t know what to expect and I didn’t know her style. Over the past couple of years, she has focused her technique on pouring vibrant colors of acrylics paints from cups onto large canvases. It’s hard to explain her style but I’ll include a few photos. Some of her paintings make you feel like you’re looking at waves gently crashing onto a beach while other pieces look like science fiction images of space. Other works may look like abstract sunsets. Whatever you may see in the work, is up to you. That’s the beauty of abstract art and especially Oxana’s art. Many of the pieces have tiny “cells” as she calls them that remind me of when I was in elementary school science class looking at parts of a plant cell under a microscope — cell membranes and cytoplasm making up tiny squares and oblong pieces that seamlessly connect you to the larger image.

From early in her career she has experimented with a variety of mediums including pencil and oil. She’s also excelled at small batch custom clothing and tailoring before moving into painting full time. Presently Oxana paints obsessively. She has mastered the medium of acrylic pouring, pushing the limits of what’s possible with color combination and temperature treatments as well as granular controls over the pouring process with fingers, sticks, brushes, plastic and fabric tools. She focuses primarily on abstract ideas, flowing from the language of the ocean and space. Definitely check out her Instagram page where she posts some of her artwork. Instagram @oxana_agarkova