Gallery Elena Shchukina - Autumn Bliss - Works by Kyosuke Tchinai and Katusha Ostroumoff Bull

Kyosuke Tchinai was born in Namikata Ohchi in 1948. After studying at Tokyo's National University of Fine Arts and Music he has been well received in numerous shows across Japan including the Nakata Museum in 2003 and the Ehime Fine Arts Museum in 2007. 

Tchinai, highly regarded by the Parisian art scene following several exhibitions at Galerie Taménaga, was looking forward to seeing how Londoners would receive his work.

Speaking in 2013, he said: “I still remember the excitement and anticipation that preceded my first exhibition in Paris. Tchinai Poésie Orientale was held in 2002, at Galerie Taménaga. Eleven years and four Paris exhibitions later, I can clearly see the many ways in which exhibiting in Europe has influenced my work.″ 

Tchinai's work is held by a number of public and private collections in Japan and the United States. He has also illustrated a children’s book entitled Les chants de ma naissance, written by world famous trumpet player, Toshinori Kondo, and published by Fukuinkan Shoten (Japan, 2007).

Tchinai gives his work a ″world″ feel by combining elements of traditional Japanese styles and motifs with an exciting and eclectic mix of global cultures. Captivating kimono-clad figures, stunning butterflies and luxuriant flowers, created with the addition of gold and platinum leaf or coloured tissues, float between real and imaginary worlds. Minutely detailed paintings show every strand of fabric, every stamen in a blossom. This artist's surrealism is inspired by paintings of the Momoyama period – 1573–1615.   

Katusha Ostroumoff Bull is certainly on the fast track having risen to prominence in just a few years since graduating from Heatherley School of Fine Art, Chelsea in 2002, with a Diploma in Figurative Sculpture. 

Katusha's work is internationally acclaimed and features in many public and private collections in the UK, United States, India, Hong Kong, Australia, Macau and Malta. She became an Associate of the Royal British Society of Sculptors in 2005, and a member of the Society of Designer Craftsmen in 2012. 

Katusha's art is the result of a life rich in varied experiences. Like a cat with nine lives, she has enjoyed almost as many different careers. After growing up in Hong Kong, she worked as a nurse in Australia, and has also been a ski patroller and instructor, a dressmaker, a cook, a real estate agent and a mother. Her sculptures are bold and colourful, but have a slightly elusive feel to them. As you observe a piece on a day-to-day basis, it seems to change with the light, with the seasons, and even depending on its surroundings.