About
Anya Kotler delves into personal experiences, desires and fears, reinterpretations of biblical narratives, myths and archetypal themes, to create works that range from large wall installations, to small and intimate objects. She works in a variety of materials, focusing mainly on paintings on carved and shaped panels, and drawings on paper mache. Her practice spans flat works on paper, and various experiments in bas-relief and sculpture in the round, often blurring the lines between these distinctions. The works transgress their boundaries, stretching the distinction between frame, image and object. They often carry an inner space locked within the piece - something inaccessible, a secret. She pushes her imagery to become present in the world of surface, volume, and mass, by letting the materials and forms weave between illusion and corporeality in ways that create new meaning.
Her current preoccupation is with the shift in perceptions, and the intense physical and psychological experiences that are embedded in motherhood.
Anya was born in Ukraine, grew up in Moldova and Israel and studied painting at the New York Academy of Art. Most recently her work was included in exhibitions at the Ely Center of Contemporary Art (CT), Pen and Brush Gallery (NYC), Silvermine Gallery (CT), and a solo exhibition at Rosenberg Gallery, Hofstra University (NY). Her work was featured/reviewed in New American Paintings, ArtMaze Magazine, New Haven Independent, and Friend of the Artist. Anya is a recipient of the NJ State Council on the Arts Fellowship, and twice the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant. She has taught courses and workshops around the US and in Ireland. She lives with her husband, daughter and two cats in the Greater New York area.