YELENA PETROUKHINA
Yelena Petroukhina (she/her) is a Russian-born contemporary ceramic artist living in Little Rock, Arkansas. In her sculptural ceramics, Petroukhina actively searches for new frameworks and relations to a sense of self with society. Her work is personal and rooted in the tradition of ceramic toys of Central Russia. Petroukhina received various grants and awards, including Best in Show 2021 Irene Rosenzweig Biennial Juried Exhibition, and is currently a visiting artist at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Petroukhina is a teaching artist passionate about helping students of all ages to create and appreciate art.
STATEMENT
I create ceramic sculptures to explore the origins of my sense of self and search for new cultural frameworks and relations. I grew up in Russia and immigrated to the United States when I was 17. Both chapters of my life are interwoven and interconnected. I reference traditional ceramic toys of Central Russia as a nod to my upbringing and conventional views of femininity. I paint my sculptures to overlay my experience within this context.
Two dominant forms in my work are a woman figure in a bell-shaped skirt and a domestic animal. Through the change of scale, I magnify the smallest social constructs in which women exist. Figurines of domestic animals inspire animalistic form. I give these figures human attributes and, to some, my face to personify them. The reference to the ram or goat is linguistic. In Russian, for a woman to be called a goat implies stubbornness and non-compliance. I embrace this notion and see it as women’s relentless effort to embrace and redefine all parts of our humanity. I use the simplified female form with a pedestal-like skirt as a reference to the traditional views of the role of women. I compose layered surface designs with symbols and designs referring to personal stories in cultural contexts. Examining and rethinking my personal history is poignant, and creating sculptures is deeply cathartic.
