Ah-Ha Arts

Artist Larissa Gorikh paints the town fantastic with colorful displays of emotive power 

 "Each work I create is a report in itself, which examines the status of my role as an artist in the society within which I function. I believe that the artist must work for the society, to which he or she belongs. This is my assignment as an artist, and my mission in life."

-- Larissa Gorikh

(For more: Visit  Larissa's new web site at http://larissag.artspan.com/)

Larissa Gorikh took the long way to 4S Ranch, Rancho Bernardo and Rancho Santa Fe -- the long, long way.

"I started to draw very early in my childhood," she said. "My grandmother encouraged me: 'Larissa will be an artist!' I copied the great Russian artist, Valentin Serov’s illustrations very often, which pushed my passion to a new world, and my direction to attend art school."

That was in a faraway place called Ussuriysk, a modest city of 160,000 people in Primorsky Krai, about 60 miles north of Vladivostok and 60 miles east of China. Graduating from art school, she went to art college at Irkutsk in Siberia,  prepping for a prestigious place at the St. Petersburg Institute for Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, founded in 1757.

Unfortunately, the time was not right; 1991 and the dissolution of the old Soviet arts structure forced a change in plans. "The fall of the Socialist system in 1991 marked a long and profound crisis in Russia, and unfortunately, my desires did not materialize," she said. "I returned to the East and attended the Vladivostok Academy of Arts, where I continued to study and learn the secret of the profession."

 C'est La Vie. Larissa has painted murals at high-toned Cielo mansions and taught art and exhibited at Balboa Park, more recently at 4S Ranch and Rancho Bernardo.

"After completing my academic study, I discovered the theme that would define my paintings," she said. "I found my muse in the theme: 'People and the City'. I explore people’s attitude to life in general and their interaction with the urban situation in my paintings.

To this end, to wit:

"The city is full of noise; a conglomeration of skyscrapers, signs, facades, lamps, auto, rushing roadside pedestrians...I love all the heroes of my paintings. Picturing people close to me in spirit-young, energetic movement.

"Movement is life. I chose an elongated horizontally format, take turns of acceleration and deceleration, strain/energy and lightness. Through the asymmetry of construction suddenness, perspectives try to transmit live feeling of reality. I continue to work on the series: Restaurants, Billiards, Carnivals, and Beaches that continuously refine once found."

 Larissa adds: "I am not indifferent to flowers. I paint them often; in paintings, especially portraits. Flowers recur frequently in my works, in a decorative sense, to evoke emotions, or to add commentary to the subject of the painting."

Living at San Diego since 1999, the artist herself has won many awards and contests in fine art. She is a member of the San Diego Art Institute, Museum of the Living Artist at Balboa Park. She has won jurors choice awards there. She exhibits at many San Diego art festivals, such as ArtWalk, Little Italy, Rancho Santa Fe Art Festival, Harvest Festival, and Del Mar Art Fesitval.

Even better, her new web site at http://larissag.artspan.com/ shows all the latest and greatest work available for purchase as well as other information about Larissa and her quest for beauty.