Alina Samylova - AP Portfolio

Part 1: Sustained Investigation

Since my childhood, I’ve been very interested in the architecture in my home country Russia. Although I have been living in the US for 3 years, I remember people and moments associated with those places in great detail. In those moments my consciousness was changing, I was growing. One of these moments greatly changed my life. I was walking with a friend in the Tretyakov gallery, and she told me that I needed to draw more and after that, I became an artist. In this portfolio I journey to reignite connections with those I love who are far away by exploring my memories of my life in Russia.

I explored memories of Russia by practicing drawing architecture based on my original photos. As I looked through old photos, I remembered special moments I wanted to bring to life. I experimented with connecting loved ones with architecture with image transfer, collage, mixed media processes and digital art. I encountered challenges in the scale of architecture versus human figure, but resolved with surreal compositions. This journey helped me explore new processes. I want to show the world the importance of appreciating places and people in your life, you never know when you may lose them.

Part 2: Selected Works