Svetlana Kurmaz

“To create artworks that bring joy, peace, and harmony, this is the best thing I can do for the world and for myself.”

Svetlana Kurmaz’s practice offers a peep into the intimate world of women—a world of feminine charms, delicacy, sophistication and innocence. Her characters exude grace and poetry. The figures are beautiful, elegant, poised and confident. Svetlana’s ladies inhabit a pristine fantasy world where they are freely engaged in pursuits they enjoy—reading, socializing, napping and enjoying many other hobbies and leisure activities.

 Born in the town of Krasnodar in the south of Russia, Svetlana completed her art education at the Faculty of Art, Krasnodar State University. In 1988, she made painting a full-time professional pursuit. Primarily, Svetlana practices two genres of art, representative and abstract while being adept at both academic drawing and oil painting. Svetlana has evolved her unique artistic style that takes inspiration from the vast and glorious tradition of European Expressionism.

Svetlana’s paintings are characterized by complementary, soft colours as well as vintage compositions and silhouettes. Aesthetically and philosophically, her creative method and style are designated as figurative and abstract metaphysical Subjectivism. In such a style, deep colour is typically combined with a specific image or icon. The image is rooted in the tangible real world but also open to subjective interpretations. This introduces a dream-like quality to Svetlana’s works. Consistently, the motifs of her oeuvre comprise trees, flowers, and other fragile beings, which deliberately create a world of fantasy, peace and harmony. 

Svetlana loves travelling. In 1993, she moved to Moscow and subsequently to Prague in 2003. Later, she set up an art gallery in Prague along with her husband. Svetlana’s works have been exhibited across the world in cities and countries like the U.K., France, Germany, Spain, Russia, Czech Republic, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland and the U.S.