Introducing Alexandra Gromova and her art

Alexandra Gromova is a London-based artist whose work extends to different media such as painting, drawing, embroidery and textile. As she notes at her website, her current collection studies the themes of femininity, female body, the unconscious drawings and the intangible female mental realm, especially emotional misbalance which are influenced by personal experience, dreams and memories.

Her work has been exhibited in various art galleries in London, Prague, Athens, with the most recent exhibition being at Art Number 23, London in February 2020. Due to the pandemic, several other exhibitions planned for this year and featuring her art have been postponed.

Her work is on permanent display here: saatchiart.com/alexandragromova.

While exploring the artist’s various present and past collections I noticed a set of Matisse-inspired oil paintings from 2016 (displayed below). They expressed a rare form of optimism through the liberation of colour and shape. I’ve been pulled into the energy of the movement and joy the colour created.

Click any image to expand and scroll through Alexandra Gromova’s paintings:

Curious to learn about her work and this collection, I reached out to Alexandra. I asked how she has been during these challenging times dictated by the world pandemic and how she pursued her art.

Alexandra Gromova:

Yes, this year has been very challenging and we all have gone through difficult times, but I believe at the same time it has made us focus on different values and appreciate what we have and how easily it can be lost. 

When the first lockdown began, I started to create artworks exploring my mental state at that moment. I strongly believe that never before have I created works with such openness and therefore without any hesitation I can call it My Diary. My quarantine diary embodies the reflection of my intangible mental experience, during the lockdown and my self-isolation, and its interconnection with my physical body. I question how isolation impacts a female’s mental health and body transformation. I’ve used medical masks, which are a symbol of my enforced isolation and invisibility. I have embroidered these masks with text, which in a metaphorical way represent my feelings, my hesitations, loss of control, the ambivalence of emotions, my non-acceptance, helplessness, intimidation, panic, emptiness, rage, disbelief and loss of reality. When the physical body is locked down, past traumas can be triggered which raise the mental imbalance and during isolation can only be tackled by your inner strength and self-acceptance.  

Alexandra discussed her work in relation to Matisse:

I hope that the most challenging times are over, so going back to 2016, I would like to say a few words about my ‘bright’ period. These works were inspired by Matisse’s oeuvres and especially his Cut-Outs. Some of his Cut-Outs may look very simple, but while gazing at them you realise that there is a whole mystic story is hidden inside. These works have inspired me to create my own set of paintings using gouache, acrylic, ink. The paintings focus on the exploration of femininity, female emotional experience and colour.

I also asked Alexandra to describe her favourite piece of art in her portfolio for TAoE. 

My favourite painting is “The Gaze.” There are two faces on the painting, thus you can perceive it very differently. You can see it as a woman looking at a man or a woman looking inside herself or one part as the consciousness and the other is the unconsciousness, or you can consider them as the Self and the Shade. I would like a viewer to construct their own personal story about this painting. The flowers for me symbolise  femininity and like most of my art these paintings represent female mental experience in a metaphorical way.