"untitled 2" - Darya Golubina

"untitled 2" | 11x14 Signed Archival Print

Darya Golubina is a founding member of the artist-run initiative Super Secret Projects. 

Artist Statement

“When I paint skin and bone, the body, I am transported to a parallel space. It exists around us always, but we rarely allow ourselves to seek refuge there. A realm of distinctive detail, vivid color, texture, and landscape. I study shadows, valleys, and the unique depths the body presents. When I paint a portrait, I faithfully follow the markers on the paths of the subject's face. 

As an immigrant as a child, I often wrestle with a part of myself that regresses to an 8-year-old me. I would learn by listening and observing, unable to participate or use my voice. Now I find myself studying, not asking when intrigued by a new person or place. How much can we know from merely watching our environment? What can the freckles on someone’s cheek tell us about their time spent under our sun? Where did they get that scar? The calluses on their hands, the hunching of their shoulders. Wordless communication. The human body changes in the same way the bank of a familiar river is reshaped over time. Morning light reveals the curve of a back, a belly, not unlike the curve of a mountain, the rounded side of a cliff carved by water. The setting sun deepens the green of a tree-lined valley, same as it chisels a ribcage. When I work I surrender to the terrain, sitting with it, learning from a feeling.”    

About Darya Golubina

Darya was born in Kiev, Ukraine and immigrated to the United States when she was 8 years old. She graduated from SVA in 2010 and after dedicating 8 years of her life to growing her professional photography career, she moved to Beacon with the goal of refocusing on her painting. Since the move she has not only found a renewed dedication to art but also a beautiful, supportive artist community. Darya is the director of Beacon Open Studios and when she isn’t photographing full size humans at the studio she still manages in NYC, she runs Tiniest Gallery Beacon, a miniature gallery and public art project she started with her friends during the pandemic to combat isolation and uncertainty.

Her painting work is heavily influenced by her childhood, a time during which she suddenly found herself unable to communicate, a spectator in a foreign country. Darya lives in Beacon with her dog Hugo.