Regina about her creation

I have always been interested in art and while living in Moscow and London I spent a lot of time visiting various museums and galleries. Other people have always seen me as an extremely artistic and creative person but it was not until I moved to Israel a few years ago that I came to see myself in the same way, as an artist. I began to paint and discovered that through the medium of paint on canvas, I could express my innermost feelings. Although I am a new artist, and only started to paint two years ago, I have already opened my own studio in Old Jaffa.

I always had the feeling that I see the outside world in a different way from many people. When I create my paintings, I feel that time stands still and I never know how long I’ve spent in my studio: I am completely absorbed in what I am doing. I feel that I am producing something meaningful, something that may provoke people to stop for a moment and maybe look inside themselves. When I paint I feel as though I am releasing my deepest emotions and am driven to express myself on the canvas. I believe that I am creating something new, something special that has never existed in the world before, and in this way I am sharing a small part of my inner self with others.

I am a very temperamental person and my mood is changing frequently. Some of my works are extremely emotional, very bright, colourful and revolutionary, closely reflecting my personality. Other paintings are more subdued, quite deep, multi-layered and even mysterious: this is also me….. When people visit my studio, they do not believe that all the paintings were created by the same person and I cannot really answer which of my paintings most closely conveys my internal world or which is my favourite piece. They are all me. But, what I find most interesting, is that each person who sees my work chooses something different as his or her favourite.

Since I was a child I have dedicated all my free time to different forms of art. When I was a small child it was mostly modern and classical dancing and then I started to write poetry and even published my own book. Later I started singing and was encouraged by friends to make a career as a pop star and so I began writing my own songs and made some professional recordings. But when I started to paint, I realized that at last, I had found my own very personal form of expression. I have a feeling that I am, finally, at peace with myself and I know that I have to focus on visual art.

The most important feature of my work is undoubtedly The Colour. It is the colour and the rebellious combinations that make each and every one of my paintings unique and that allow me to express my thoughts and feelings through a variety of sudden and unexpected movements of the different colours. It is the colour that breaks the borders of our perceptions of the objects, and thus the traditional concept of object and subject no longer exists.

Sometimes it only takes a day to complete a painting but before I start to bring the world of my deep emotions to the canvas, it often take weeks for me to focus on my feelings and thoughts. And sometimes the finished work doesn’t reflect my initial expectations. Many people ask me about the exact meaning behind a painting and I quote Picasso, who when asked what his paintings meant, replied: "Do you ever know what the birds are singing? You don’t. But you listen to them anyway. So, sometimes with art, it is important just too look."

Indeed in our perception of art there is no logic and there are no borders. For an artist, your painting is your planet, your own secret space and it is always your choice what to reveal to the outside world and what to keep for yourself. In the same way, the outside observers, the critics and buyers, can each choose for themselves which part of my planet and which piece of my soul they would like to discover in my paintings and then keep for themselves.

The world of art is today poised between the past, the present and the future. It is a variable entity although maybe not as dynamic as some would like it to be. I feel there is a sense of stagnation and that we are all waiting for the new comets to enter the art space in order to start a new era in art history. I wish I could become one of these comets and leave my trace in the world of art. I would like to participate in many exhibitions around the world and in this way enable my art to be accessible to as many people as possible.