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Artist: Tanya Derkash
Humanity fascinates me. Landscapes fascinate me as well. Both are complex and layered and need time to perceive and interpret them. My perception of both concepts has changed immensely over the passage of time. I use an emotional approach with a social conscience to paint the people that have intersected my life thus far. Sensitivity to human suffering is a thread that can be seen in all of my portraits. My landscapes on the other hand, abstract forms in nature to create a peaceful place where one can sit and ponder the beauty that still exists.
People with special needs, elderly people, and those who may not be able to advocate for themselves have taught me to use a specific lens when trying to understand human nature. This lens has allowed me to gain a better understanding of each individual when painting the delicacies of facial features while simultaneously creating a world in which each one exists. Sometimes these worlds are interior, sometimes exterior and sometimes suspended in between the two. This process has evolved into painting landscapes designed to appreciate where we are in place and time. Landscapes where one can sit, contemplate and enjoy the passage of time outside the realm of reality.
Tanya Derkash has been painting portraits and landscapes since 1998. Her portraits intersect with her experience in the world that is viewed through an emotional lens. She has worked in the field of special education for over twenty years and continues to find meaning, place and joy in the field. Working in international schools brought this joy overseas for the last ten years but having a baby in 2020 during the pandemic has brought her back to Colorado to figure out what the future will hold.
She got her MFA degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York in 2003. She paints with oils on wood panels and continues to be inspired by both people and nature.