By Chris Clay
Joyous is how Maya Eventov describes the act of painting.
When creating a new piece, she attacks the canvas lustily with a zeal and ardor that typically leaves the GTA-based artist and the ceiling of her workspace splattered in paint. That unbridled passion for art clearly resonates amongst those who admire and collect her work.
“The process of painting itself is so uplifting and brings me such joy,” said Eventov, who grew up in what is now St. Petersburg – a city known for its rich history and storied culture – and where she had her initial exposure to the fine arts. “I often hear from collectors that my energy and joy carries through to the work and is something they can feel in it.”
Gabriele Cole is gallery director of Crescent Hill Gallery, a venue that has carried Eventov’s works for a number of years. Cole says she’s the gallery’s top-selling artist and easily their most recognizable for her use of a palette knife to create her signature aesthetic.
“Her work is instantly (identifiable),” said Cole, adding the artist is very attuned to what collectors and designers are looking for.
Eventov, meanwhile, has delved into the world of abstracts by moving away from her classical training to become a more intuitive and instinctual painter. As her career matured and progressed and she grew more self-assured as an artist, Eventov was more willing to trust her own intuition and feelings when creating.
As she says, she now allows “the painting to lead me instead of it being me leading the painting.”
That liberating evolution has inspired her to create a series of abstracts included in which are a number of nudes and portraits.
The nudes in particular are rich with texture and the artist employs an alluring array of colours that mesh together into an eye-pleasing aesthetic.
When the artist was in school, she always loved drawing nudes and fondly remembers countless hours sketching pencil drawings of the disrobed subjects. When creating the nudes, Eventov has an image of the subject and describes it as being like a dream state from which the ethereal woman emerges in her mind’s eye before becoming tangible on the canvas.
Her work can be found in galleries across the country as well as in England and the United States. They’re also in private collections, including that of former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, and in a number of corporate ones.