Artist Interview with Rebecca Shkeyrov

From an interview by Isabella Chalfant with additional material

Paris-based painter Rebecca Shkeyrov constructs visual worlds where memory, emotion, and cultural inheritance converge in radiant, symbolic form. Working in layered fields of saturated color, her paintings are at once intimate and mythic, offering viewers entry points into landscapes shaped as much by feeling as by form. Her practice is deeply intuitive yielding compositions that unfold like visual poems or psychological maps.

Shkeyrov’s iconography is fluid but resonant. Recurrent motifs—houses, suns, angels, and other archetypal figures—anchor the work in a shared symbolic vocabulary, yet they resist singular interpretation. These forms appear not as fixed signs but as evolving presences, shifting across canvases to mirror the instability of memory and identity. Color is her grammar: iridescent blues, electric reds, and soft, otherworldly gradients create a sense of dreamlike suspension.

A 2020 graduate of William & Mary with degrees in Studio Art and Art History, Shkeyrov has exhibited across the U.S., with recent shows in New York, Virginia, Ohio, and Maryland. Her work often reflects a diasporic sensibility, drawing from personal and collective histories without ever becoming illustrative. In Two Mothers, for example, the composition navigates the spaces between matrilineal memory, Korean symbolism, and generational loss—emerging not as narrative but as atmosphere, charged with feeling and absence alike.

What distinguishes Shkeyrov’s practice is her resistance to conclusion. Her paintings do not explain; they offer. Each work is a kind of invocation—of longing, of transformation, of the interior world made visible. In an art world saturated with literalism and spectacle, Shkeyrov’s canvases hum quietly, insistently, asking viewers to linger in ambiguity, to trust what is felt more than what is seen.

Matney Gallery: How would you describe your artistic vision?

Rebecca Shkeyrov:
I want to merge the joy and beauty of the observed world with that of my imagined universe. Over time, I’ve been slowly building a world through my art—creating a visual lexicon of colors, symbols, and figures that tell intimate stories through the poetry of color and structure. These stories are deeply rooted in exploring my identity through close observation.Shkeyrov invites the viewer into her mind, where each canvas becomes a portal to a world uniquely her own. With every brushstroke, a new dimension takes shape—vivid, layered, and alive..

Matney Gallery: What inspired you to embark on your artistic journey?

Rebecca Shkeyrov:

“I would say it’s just in my genes; my father is a talented artist. Unfortunately, he couldn’t realize his dream of pursuing art as a career because, as a Jew living in the Soviet Union, he was barred from entering art school. He had a brief stint as a commercial artist in the States before going to law school and settling into a career as a Russian-English interpreter.” “I create art because I have both the innate drive and the privilege to be able to do so. I am blessed that, in my case, making art makes my immigrant parents happy and proud of me.” Now, she’s able to realize her artistic dreams, while her family witnesses her journey as she sets the art world ablaze with her vibrant fractals of color.

Matney Gallery: Can you describe your painting practice?

Rebecca Shkeyrov:
I usually begin with a brief compositional or figurative idea, and the painting evolves from there. As I work, the composition shifts and settles until it feels just right—adapting to new elements that emerge during the painting process. I try to keep things loose and open in the early stages, allowing the painting to find its form organically. Once the structure solidifies, I become more focused, refining colors and shapes until the piece naturally reaches its conclusion.

Shkeyrov has cultivated a process that invites the painting to unfold naturally, rather than being rigidly constructed. This openness allows for spontaneous visual elements to emerge, shaping each work in unexpected ways.

Matney Gallery: How long did it take to develop your painting style?

Rebecca Shkeyrov:
I think my style is still very much in development. It really began during my first year at William & Mary, studying under John Lee. What has remained consistent throughout my life as a painter is my fascination with figures, composition, and color. After working for years, I’ve noticed that certain images recur across my paintings—houses, suns, and angels—though they usually appear without conscious intention.

Matney Gallery: Can you speak about the recurring symbols in your work?

Rebecca Shkeyrov:
Yes, those elements are placed intuitively. They’re responses to emotions and narratives that arise as I paint. I’m often so immersed in the process that I don’t recognize or interpret the meaning of these symbols until the painting is complete. Like I mentioned, it’s very intuitive—I’m not a concept-forward painter. Most of the meaning or ideology behind my work develops during the act of painting, though there’s always a bit of forethought and reflection involved too.

Rebecca Shkeyrov, *Call Her Green*, 2021, Acrylic on canvas, 30 × 36 in | 76.2 × 91.4 cm

Matney Gallery: What do you hope to convey through your paintings, and what do you want viewers to take away from them?

Rebecca Shkeyrov:
I want my work to inspire people to look more closely, to slow down, and to love those around them. I hope viewers find their own meaning in the paintings—psychoanalyzing the subjects, interpreting the environment, and exploring the symbols to form a personal narrative. We can all recognize a figure in a room, and I hope that sense of universality sparks something within the viewer.

Shkeyrov believes each viewer will take away something different from her work, making every interaction with her art a new interpretation. Her approach invites introspection and storytelling, encouraging viewers to build their own emotional and psychological connections. Her paintings become more than just images—they become mirrors, reflecting the viewer's inner world.

REBECCA SHKEYROV DISCUSSES 엄마 (Mom), ㅁ(M), and 엄마의엄마 (Mom's Mom)

The three pieces ㅁ(M), 엄마 (Mom), and 엄마의엄마 (Mom's Mom) came about in what I could call a symbolic chain of events. It started with two large, blue, cotton cyanotype sheets that were donated to me which I decided to cut into squares and turn into a patchwork fabric. This patchwork can be seen in the background of ㅁ (M). Sewing these together made me think about my grandmother, who earned the pennies that would keep her family alive by sewing traditional Korean dresses called "hanbok", which is what she is wearing in the sculpture. She died when my mother was twenty years old, so I never got to meet her. Using my mom as an intermediary between myself and my grandmother, I created her bust featuring a dress made up of blue squares and a necklace of gold.

All these squares are connected to the Korean letter M which is in the shape of a square (ㅁ). The word for Mom in Korean has two M's, just like the English word. In my painting, you will find many squares (including the canvas itself). I am constantly searching for different types of squares and geometric shapes in my work. The repetition of the square, this M, the ㅁ (which also means "mouth" in Hanja), acts as a visual chant which unifies three generations of women, each generation more prosperous than the last.

The gold angel I am holding in my painting simultaneously symbolizes a potential fourth generation while also calling to mind my deceased grandmother. Therefore, this figure brings the generations back around full circle, like an ever-reverberating echo.

In Two Mothers, I wanted to create a still life to reunite my mother and her mother in one space for the first time in 40 years. For the setup, I included the new sculpture of my grandmother, a 2020 painting of my mother, cheekily titled Modiglimommy, and several Korean vases. The tallest vase is the closest thing we have to a family heirloom -- between my grandfather tossing all of my grandmother's belongings from fear of her ghost to my mother immigrating across an entire ocean, it is the only artefact I have come into contact from my mother's childhood apart from photographs.

Placing my own work within itself allows me to explore the surreality between real life and painting and to create infinite mirrors reflecting my paintings back onto the viewer. For example, the bouquet of sunflowers in Two Mothers are observed from a previous painting in which the sunflowers sprung from my imagination, and the sunflower on the table in Two Mothers is "real", and observed directly from life. However, ultimately, they are both reduced to flat shapes of mud and elevated to jewels of color. The line between imagined and observed becomes tenuous and subjective.