b. 1977, St. Petersburg, Russia. Lena Ochkalova lives and works in Auckland, New Zealand.

 

To define Lena's art direction two comparisons come to mind. First is a visual fable, a short contentious story or sometimes just a mise en scene to such an imaginative narrative. But unlike fable in literature, her art works do not have any moralistic intentions. They rather reflect on social or mentality collisions using a portion of sarcasm. Lena tries to depict paradoxes of human perception without direct involvement of social references, including reference to a human body.
 

To give the second collation, imagine a room with a large mirror in front of a window and a camera installed between them and facing the mirror. Just a portion of reality comes through the window and the camera can fix only a distorted reflection of such visual reality doze. This is how a sentient mind is processing the world around in an endless attempt to explain it. As an artist Lena has a special tool. She can choose what is the best moment to press a button on the camera and get the most curious reflection of facts.
 

Lena uses the whole range of visual mediums including drawings, printmaking, collages, ceramics, painting and photography. The comparisons above explains her preference to use printmaking and drawings in particular. Printmaking, as a process, exposes an image to multiple reflections and transformations much like mirror reflection. And the drawings as a primary tool of mark making is in many ways reminds basic short form in literature like fable and parable.

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In ceramics Lena often combines the challenge of a repetitive meditative process when shaping, refining and fixing each single element goes alongside with a role of chance. She experiments with various types of clay and glazing techniques to create unique and often bizarre shapes.

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The main themes go around visual aphorisms via common concepts: contemplation and perception, sense of time and place, collisions of social norms and expectations. Lena tries to depict paradoxes of the human mind without direct involvement of social experiences, including reference to a human figures, at list for now.