User:Pottsannemarie/sandbox

(Sotina Zinaida Vladimirovna)

Early Life
Zina Sotina was born in Russia on the 31 March 1947, in the small town of Belokamenka, on the Kola Peninsula, beyond the Arctic Circle. Her father, a military officer and her mother, were both from St. Petersburg and took part in the fighting during World War II. Her paternal grandfather had been a sailor on the battleship Diana before 1917. Her maternal grandfather was a priest. Zina grew up under the strong influence of her grandmother who had received her education at the Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg.

Studies
From 1964 to 1965 Zina studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and attended a Masters Program run by Ekaterina Sitnik, a disciple of famous artist A. Mylnikov. Zina continued her education at the City Architecture department of the Leningrad Building Institute part of Saint Petersburg State Polytechnical University. From 1967 to 1972, she painted from home while caring for her family. In 1973, she studied at the Leningrad Serov Art College now renamed Rerich Art College. After college in 1977, she entered the Higher Art & Design Mukhina University. During student years Zina participated in art exhibitions with her drawings and print graphics. After her graduation from the Mukhina University in 1982 she started her professional painting career.

Work
In 1985 her first personal exhibition was organized at the Leningrad Artists Union Center. In 1988 she held a large joint exhibition with Boris Grebenshchikov at the Youth Palace Community Center. The exhibition proved to be an important event in the life of the city and brought Zina much popular acclaim. In 1990 Zina opened her personal exhibition in London's Roy Miles Gallery. In 1992 - 1994 Zina delivered portraits of St. Petersburg Mayor Anatoly Sobchak. One of them is displayed in The State Museum of the History of Democracy in St. Petersburg, two are kept in his family collection. In 1994 her personal exhibition was included in a St Petersburg’s - Frankfurt-Main exchange event. where, Zina first met Russia’s future President Vladimir Putin. In 2002 her personal exhibition was organized as part of the official Days of St. Petersburg’s Culture in Berne, Switzerland. In November and December 2004 the State Museum of Contemporary History of Russia held in Moscow a major exhibition of Sotina’s work. In October and November 2011 with the support of the Panamanian Government and Ministry of Culture she held a series of 4 exhibitions in Panama City. In December 2011, her painting “La Communion” was offered to UNESCO in Paris on behalf of the Government of the Russian Federation.

Style and Influences
Zina Sotina's spent the major part of her life in one of the most beautiful cities of the world, St Petersburg. Her style is deeply rooted in Russian traditions and folklore, using lush colours to defeat the winter’s bleakness with bubbly visual narration. She sees and appreciates beauty in everyday life, but the real hero in her Art remains the human being with an unwavering optimism. After her 2002 trips to Switzerland and France, she opened to a freer style, with "jazzy" lines and bold contours engaging the subjects in dynamic movements. Since 2006 she introduced more translucence and sparkling light; never departing from her focus on beauty.