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Bio
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Olga Kataeva-Rochford is a painter, drawer and printmaker. She lives and works in Paris, a cultural crossroads that nourishes her research. She trained in monumental painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Saint Petersburg, graduating in 2010. This training is achieved by theoretical research into drawing techniques as part of a doctorate at the Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris 3.
A member of the Taylor Foundation, she has taught drawing at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Paris - La Villette in 2013-2025. She is in charge of research for the exhibition" The Ecstatic Eye. Sergei Eisenstein, filmmaker at the crossroads of the arts" at the Centre Pompidou-Metz, France, in 2018-2019.
Today, she composes works mainly inspired by travel and maritime exploration, weaving in influences from the Russian landscapes in which she grew up, as well from artists such as Petrov-Vodkine, Chagall and De Staël.
Her work has been published, exhibited, and awarded prizes (including the shortlist of John Ruskin Prize in 2024) and included in private collections in France, Italy, the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Russia, New Zealand and the USA.
2004-2018
Education
2018 PhD in Audiovisual and Film Studies, LIRA - Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Paris 3
2004-2010 Master's degree in Monumental Painting,
Faculty of Fine Arts, Herzen University, Saint Petersburg
2010-2024
Awards and grants
2024 Trinity Buoy Working Drawing Prize Shortlist, London, United Kingdom
2023 John Ruskin Prize Shortlist, London, United Kingdom
2023 Wales Contemporary Art Shortlist, United Kingdom
2023 Young Artist Award, Fine Arts Biennale, Rambouillet, France
2023 Bronze Medal from the Departmental Council, 54th Salon d'Ile-de-France, Bourg-la-Reine, France
2014 2nd and 3rd prizes, Italian Artweek, Venice, Italy
2013 Gold Medal from the City of Bourg-la-Reine, Salon de peinture de l’Île-de-France, Bourg-la-Reine
2010 1st prize, Slovakian Art Week, Bratislava, Slovakia
Artist statement
Olga Kataeva-Rochford's work invites us to discover unknown real and imaginary worlds, to create links between universes, times and people. Whether she paints dreamlike subjects or seascapes, the main theme remains freedom, the dream of flight, crossing and exploring the cultures of the world.
Her work is mainly inspired by travel. Her work is rooted in the maritime world, which she discovered through her family history. Among the artists who have influenced her are Marc Chagall, for his dreamlike surrealism, and Nicolas de Staël, for his treatment of luminosity and the interplay of materials.
Through research, exploration and experimentation, Olga Kataeva-Rochford creates artworks that transcend mental and cultural boundaries, in the service of a universal culture. For each theme, she seeks the most appropriate means and techniques of expression, from drawing to wood sculpture. Her favourite technique is tempera painting, with its harmonious range of natural pigments reminiscent of Italian Renaissance frescoes and icons.
The viewer is often surprised by her work, and then begins to dream, to think of something greater, and to discover unknown worlds.
