In 1937, Joseph Stalin had a technique for displacing unwanted immigrants. They were put on trains and sent to far-flung, inhospitable places. Stalin sent thousands of Koreans who had been living in Siberia to Central Asia, fully intending that they would not survive. Seventy-nine years later a thriving Korean community in Tashkent and Central Asia is proof to the contrary.

Vladimir Kim, who is ethnically Korean, was born in Tashkent in 1964. He studied and graduated from Tashkent Teacher’s College in 1991 with a major in Fine Arts.  

Kim’s artwork has distinct Asian influences. He is prone to personifying inanimate objects—simple chairs seem to relate to each other, pots and pans are ‘talking’ at the table. His still life paintings are decorative and simple, showing his interest in flatness.

Beata Murawska is exclusively about flowers. In Warsaw she is affectionately know as the ‘Tulip Lady,’ as her subjects are fields of tulips, single tulips, tulips in the wind, raining tulips. An extremely popular Warsaw artist, Beata’s work is found in many public buildings as well as in private collections around the world.

Murawska graduated from the Academy of Art in Warsaw in 1988. Her exhibitions have taken her to Germany, France, The Netherlands (no surprise) and of course all over Poland.

Born in 1963 in Warsaw, Dariusz Mlacki studied painting at Warsaw’s Academy of Fine Arts earning his diploma in 1989 under Professors Tadeusz Dominik, Zbigniew Gostomski and Ryszard Winiarski.

The artist achieves his subtle effects through the use of several media—canvas, cork, ceramic and plaster—in creating many pieces of the same subject i.e., a series of envelopes on cork, a variety of Polish pottery, furniture, hats, cones, boats, candles, pistols. He uses several layers of paint on his cork artwork and very effective shadowing to achieve depth of field.

Mlacki also creates large-scale frescoes for restaurants and churches all over Poland. 

Acquaetta Williams is a sculptor, glassblower and painter. Internationally and nationally educated, Ms. Williams studied under Harvey Littleton at the University of Wisconsin and Dale Chihuly in master classes at Pilchuk in Seattle, Washington.  She received an Arts International Travel Grant that included travel to Benin in West Africa to study subjects and collect materials.

Ms. Williams has lectured across the U.S. and was the Artist-In-Residence at the New York Experimental Glass Workshop. She was also an Associate Member of the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ibaden in Nigeria.

Acquaetta's art begins with secondhand components--old clarinets, vinyl records, roller skates, piano keys, stop watches--assigning new purpose to objects often considered obsolete.

Inna Kulagina, from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, received her B.A./M.A in Painting and Art Education in 1994 from The Art College of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Now living in the United States, Inna works as an artist and an art education teacher. 

Inna creates dynamic, modern portraits which are almost impressionistic. This might seem like a contradiction in term--portraits being less than a clear representation of the person being painted? Inna painted my daughter, Louise with blue hair. Another portrait has a house behind it, another a little boat in front.

Inna takes a little creative liberty, but in the end, the result is unquestionably the person it is intended to be.

Christine has worked with dozens of artists since starting Central Asian Art.  Here are some examples. If interested in any of these works, please send an email and more detailed information will be provided.