Andjana Pachkova: Artist Statement & Bio

Andjana Pachkova is captivated by the never-ending dance of nature and the human; passionate and loving to be sure, yet also violent and at times exploitative. Her painting practice is firmly grounded in the intuitive, responding to the invisible and the ephemeral, to landscapes both travelled and felt. Her process follows the flow of substance, finding a place for herself that is liquid, fluid and moving very quickly. Interested in the infinite and treacherous possibility of water and surface, her painting practice explores the mutual interaction of the human and the landscape, how they move to shape and touch each other.

Born in Ukraine, Andjana Pachkova comes from a traditional Russian art tutoring background. Following the political movement Perestroika, she moved to Moscow and took classes at Stroganov Academy of Industrial and Applied Arts.

In 1997 Pachkova won the prestigious Davis Fellowship and subsequently moved to the United States. Alongside her academic studies, Andjana developed a drawing and painting practice informed by a passion for human relationships to landscape, in particular exploring the subtle changes in human psyche that occur when a person moves through a series of places.  Andjana took art courses both at Dartmouth Colledge, New Hampshire and NYU, New York.

Grounded in the intuitive, Andjana’s paintings team with passion, submerging the viewer in an active experience of movement and self- actualisation. Responding to both invisible and ephemeral connection, to topographies both travelled and felt, her practice explores the mutual interaction of human within the landscape, how they move to shape and touch each other. Recently interested in the infinite and treacherous possibility of oceanscapes, her works and painting process have taken on the turbulence of substance, of flowing paint and swirling water, to find a place for herself on canvas that is fluid and living.

Pachkova has studied with notable artists such as Idris Murphy, Jo Bertini, Brandt Lewis, Denis Clarke and Tony Tozer. Upon her move to Australia in 2013, she began to exhibit her work in Sydney.

Andjana's works are held in private collections across the United States, including Harvard Law faculty in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Finland, Israel and Lebanon.

Artist portrait by Jessica Maurer

Andjana Pachkova: CV January, 2025 Download

Elissa Sykes-Smith: Artist Statement & Bio

Elyssa Sykes-Smith is an artist currently working within the fields of site-specific sculpture, installation, performance and public art. She seeks to translate the expressive qualities of the figure, exploring form, space and movement pushing the figure towards abstraction and approaching sculpture as a multisensory experience that incorporates many forms of media to explore issues of and experiences of humanity. 

Her practice encompasses analysing emotional and psychological states derived from personal and public experiences and creating artworks in response to architectural and natural environments. When the sculpture not only responds to a site but also brings it to life, a dynamic relationship is created between the audience, artwork and surrounding environment. Key concerns involve encouraging her audience to experience an environment from an altered perspective and connecting to an artwork through a visceral, embodied response. 

The approach Sykes-Smith takes is one of evolution. She aims to build off her pre-existing body of work to explore new materials, processes and concepts. These evolutionary possibilities will manifest in the future through inventive installation, performance and large-scale public artworks.

Elyssa Sykes-Smith is a Shoalhaven-based artist currently exploring the figure through site-specific sculpture and installation. In 2013 she completed a BFA (Hons) in Sculpture at The National Art School. Sykes-Smith has exhibited in Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi (2012-16) and Cottesloe (2015-16) and received the Clitheroe Foundation Mentorship in 2012 and the Staff Choice Award in 2013. She was awarded First Prize and People’s Choice Prize at Sculpture at Scenic World in 2015, completed a studio residency at the Waverley Woollahra Art School in 20XX, took part in the Heath Ledger Young Artists Oral History Project, National Film and Sound Archives, and has a permanent installation in the Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney collection. Sykes-Smith recently interned with the artist Isidro Blasco in New York City, Madrid and Lisbon. In 2016 she created an artwork for the front façade of the Shoalhaven City Art Centre and Regional Gallery; received the Shoalhaven Public Art Grant to create a sculpture for permanent public display at the Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre where the project is at the initial stages; and is currently undergoing an artist in residence at the Fremantle Arts Centre. Sykes-Smith continues to explore creative sculpture, installation and performance possibilities. 

Suzi Zglinicki: Artist Statement & Bio

I am an artist who works between Sydney and the Hunter Region of NSW. My current work is an exploration of the many moods of the Hawkesbury River. It is inspired by the flow of water, mountains, fog and trees at the liminal zone of the river. I uses natural forms and materials to create semi-abstracted images in particular works related to an environment unmarked by human intervention, a world no longer in existence, to places where there is no sign of human desecration, a place that is said to be no longer found anywhere on the earth. My artworks are painted in ink on canvas, in an effort to capture some of the essences of water, such as fecundity, balance and profusion. I have constructed my vision of a particular place, the Hawkesbury River, while drawing inspiration from a much broader range of marine environments. The muted rendering of light and tone in my paintings establishes the stillness and luminosity of the river at dusk or dawn, while the underlying forms generate a symmetry between sky and ground that simulates a peaceful balance and harmony. The soft edges and indeterminate shapes create a sense of mystery and a feeling of power behind the stillness. A kind of eeriness pervades each dark, brooding landscape. In addition the eighty-one small works are designed to create wonder and awe in their mass and variety, despite the similarities of materials, size and colour.

I am an artist who works in the Hunter Region of NSW. My artworks are created in a variety of media from abstract to representational. Creating art has been a life-long passion and I have completed both my Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons) and Master of Fine Art at the National Art School in Sydney. I have received a highly commended in the Singleton Art Prize and been part of a number of group shows in the Hunter and Sydney. I took part in a community art project in conjunction with Maitland Council and Maitland Regional Art Gallery (MRAG) in 2013 and one of my drawings was selected for the archive of the National Art School in that year. In 2015 I was one of a group of local artists featured in an exhibition at the Cessnock Regional Gallery.