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Liudmila Kondakova is an iconographer of the city. Describing her style as Romantic Realism, it is the meticulous attention to every detail that allows the viewer to become intimately involved in the life of her paintings. Since her childhood in Russia, Liudmila has been fascinated by traditional art, by a sense of spirituality that transcends common existence. Her painting technique is that employed by medieval egg-tempera painters. Her palette - cultivated by the icon painters of Byzantium and later, Russia - is both vibrant and beautiful, with colors that blend in a subtle, poetic balance. The artist received intensive, practical training while and apprentice in Moscow under the guidance of monastic icon painters. Of this stage in her training, she recalls, "The monks shared the secrets of the solemn beauty of icon painting with me, a beauty that lies in the love that goes into each detail, no matter how small or insignificant. In my art, the essence and beauty has always rested in the details." Liudmila has worked in a variety of media from tiny miniatures to traditional lacquer Easter eggs to colossal murals. Since coming to America, she has created conventional palekh style paintings, traditional icon paintings, and paintings for children's books, as well as being commissioned to create a cathedral's wall and ceiling frescoes by the Russian Orthodox Archdiocese of San Francisco. Born in Russia in 1956, Liudmila emigrated to the United States in 1991. A graduate of the Grabar Center in Moscow, she also attended Russia's School of Sacred Arts, the Moscow Pedagogical Institute and the Moscow Art Institute. Her influence is found in her restorative work at the 17th century St. Alexi Cathedral in Moscow and has been a guest lecturer at the San Carlos County Museum of Art. In 1993, she was featured in a PBS television special devoted to her art. With her work in private collections around the world, original painting and serigraphs by Liudmila Kondakova can be found in galleries nationwide. |