Olga Antonova (b. 1956)

Olga Antonova’s paintings of pottery and domestic wares build upon works by Dutch Masters, yet her underlying motivations represent a departure from traditional still lifes. She calls her subject matter—cleanly arranged and sensitively observed porcelain cups and ceramic vases—a vehicle for exploring “technical issues,” namely the reflective qualities of a surface. Be it light catching on glossy porcelain or a reflection caught in silver metal, Antonova’s subjects exist in conversation with their surroundings, creating a remarkable sense of compositional cohesion. In her works, relatively mundane objects are imbued with monumentality as she homes in on objects and models them with a meticulous eye for detail.