Elena Vostryakova

Elena Vostryakova is a full time artist over than 10 years who lives and works in Vienna as painter, sculptor, ceramic and collage creator. She was born in the north of Russia in the republic of Karelia bordering Finland. As in many border areas inhabited by different nationalities, she had the op...

Elena Vostryakova is a full time artist over than 10 years who lives and works in Vienna as painter, sculptor, ceramic and collage creator. She was born in the north of Russia in the republic of Karelia bordering Finland. As in many border areas inhabited by different nationalities, she had the opportunity to absorb different cultures - Karelian, Russian, Finnish. Her family has been surrounded by creative people since her childhood. The artist's father was a successful Karelian children's author. Mother is a ceramic designer, through whom she came into contact with the visual arts at an early age. In the in-house workshop, she was always allowed to work on a few pieces.
After studying cultural sciences at the St. Petersburg Academy of Culture and German studies at the Petrozavodsk State University, Elena Vostryakova worked as a museum guide and methodologist at the architectural, historical and ethnographic open-air museum located on the small picturesque island of Kizhi in Lake Onega in the northern Russian republic of Karelia..While working in the museum, she became interested and came into close contact with the old North Russian icon painting and since then she has always felt its influence in her works.
In 2009 she quit her job at the museum and devoted herself entirely to art. Later, having moved to Europe, she reflected all her previous experience in her works of art comparing of life then and now.
Elena Vostryakova likes to work with randomly found objects and turn them into original collages. The main topic of her art is Time. She finds her inspiration in the sciences that deal with Time - History and Futurology - and tries to find the answers to the questions what our future can be, what scenarios can we imagine, and how we can feel more enthusiastic about it despite the fact that in recent times there are fewer grounds for optimism and hope in the world.
Her works are constantly presented in galleries in Vienna and Budapest, and are also in private collections in Russia, Austria, Finland, Hungary, Portugal, Switzerland, South Africa and Japan.