News from Elements Art Gallery 131A Waratah Avenue, Dalkeith. For immediate release.

‘MECHANICAL MISHKA’ an exhibition

by New York artist YULIYA LANINA
7th August – 22nd August 2010

Opening Saturday 7th August 6.30 -8.30pm
Animation Screening at 7.00pm

Yuliya Lanina, A Very Short Story, Stop animation still

Yuliya Lanina is a Russian born American multimedia installation artist living and working in New York City. Before studying Visual Arts in the US, she studied music in Russia until the age of 16. As a result of these influences Yuliya often incorporates music in her visual work combining aspects of her Russian roots with her American identity.

Creating alternate/surreal realities in a wide range of media including paintings, animations, mechanical dolls and installation pieces, Lanina’s work is a playful response to the technological condition of contemporary society as well as to our feeling of fear and loss towards it.

What also emerges from the theoretical discussion here, is that technology depersonalizes individuals, de contextualizes our interaction, and dehumanizes our overall existence and thought of being.

The modifications she makes to found objects in her mechanical doll series are both visual and electronic, turning them into robotic creatures with altered functional capabilities and appearances to reflect this belief.

Lanina has exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally. Her work has been displayed at the Seoul Art Museum, SIGGRAPH Asia 2009, Beijing Biennial 2009, Russian Contemporary Art Museum, Yeosu/Seoul Biennial 2008, Ludwig Museum (Cologne) and other venues.

Her short films were selected for International Festival of Graphic Stories 2007, (Russia), Movies with the View (USA), KunstFilmBienalle (Germany) and other festivals. Lanina has been a recipient of numerous awards and scholarships.

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For further information, please contact the gallery manager Deborah Howlett

on M: 0410 081 697 E: deborah@elementsartgallery.com.au PH: 9386 2000