Yelena Lamm
artist
Biography
Yelena Lamm was born in St. Petersburgh, Russia, where she received her formal art training from the N. K. Roerich Fine Arts School. In 1995 she and her family moved to the U.S. In Pittsburgh, Yelena pursued a career as graphic artist. She furthered her education at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, where she received her degree in Graphic Design. Meanwhile, she kept on painting, working on various subjects and developing her own artistic style. Yelena had two solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group shows. She regularly exhibits at the local art festivals, including Three Rivers Arts Festival.
Artist Statement
I believe that beauty will save the world. Even if not, it certainly makes it a better place. Whether painting figurative or still life composition, my goal is to celebrate the beauty that surrounds us. I experiment with shapes and bright colors. I exaggerate colors to create contrast, and break down shapes to find rhythms that are almost musical in their nature. My works strive for harmony, punctuated by contrasting crescendos juxtaposed with softer notes.
My subjects are traditional in their nature, but I prefer my realism with a little twist. I like mixing the soft curves of the human form with architecturally structured or geometric patterns, combining elements of cubism with organic shapes. In my portraits, I like conveying the person’s story through the use of background details.
My recent works include more still life. I experiment freely with geometry of form, breaking down and reassembling objects into fractured shapes separated by crisscrossing lines of color. Painting still life allows me to be flexible with exaggeration and take liberties with color, using bright hues with more gusto. I create compositions using cascading drapes, botanical subjects, and fruits, including my favorite, pomegranates. Pomegranates represent what I strive for in every painting: bold, energetic colors, seamless melding of the geometric and organic, and a hidden symbolic meaning. Lately I have been working with more pastel tones, but the end goal is still the same: a pleasing combination of light and color, geometric shape and organic form, and an honest expression of beauty.