ARTractor's Featured
LARK PILINSKY
founder of the LarkGallery and Voices of Resilience art movementÂ
ARTractor's Featured
LARK PILINSKY
founder of the LarkGallery and Voices of Resilience art movementÂ
Dive in the famous Fairy Tale Portals to rejoys vibrant colors, shimmering lights, breath-taking swirls and soothing premonition of magic.
As an artist, Lark Pilinsky is a second-generation member of the Bunker Art Group in Los Angeles whose work spans assemblage, collage, and, later, semi-abstract landscape painting. Trained in industrial design in the former Soviet Union and mentored in Los Angeles by Bunker founder Gregor Mikaelyan (“Kiki”), she transforms found objects and surfaces into poetic, intuitive compositions that balance chaos with harmony.
Her works have been featured in solo exhibitions (Love in the Garden, 2024; Portals, 2022; Soulrise, 2021) and in international group shows at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art and Shiba City Museum of Art, where she earned Gold Awards. Critics such as Peter Frank, Chevalier Clark, and Laurence Vittes praise her structural daring and ability to create metaphysical spaces that invite contemplation.
Meet Lark Pilinsky in the ARTractor #4 episode. The artist and creator of the famous Fairy Tale Portals tells us about her creating process, inspirations and real story of her life, leading the artists to become a Fairy Tale Portals Creator.
In this episode, Speaking Creation pays attention on how the real life events are closely connected to the artist's style, though, still, the questions remain: What goes first: obstacles and circumstances or an attitude? And is it the spirit making art or art forms a creator's spirit?
Cast:Â
Lark (Larisa) Pilinsky - artist, art activist, galleries - https://larkgallery.com
https://www.instagram.com/lark_pilins...
Carry Markell, Vanishing Arts owner - https://vanishingarts.gallery
Alisa Sokolov, conceptual creator - https://www.instagram.com/alisa_sokol...
Laurence Vittes - classical music critic and Lark Pilinsky's spouse.Â
Credits:
Vita Solzberg - creator of ARTractor and Speaking Creation Inc.,
in the episode: director, producer, author, camera, editor - https://www.vitart.gallery/about-+.html
Alex Nosov -Â camera (Alisa Sokolov and Laurence Vittes)
Phil Bearz (Filimonau) - animation and graphic design - https://philbearz.com
CHEVALIER CLARK, Fine Art consultant / France, USA
"I am rarely fan of any artist, but Lark is an exceptional phenomenon. Besides her brilliant sense of composition, she is the ultimate "Green Artist" or maybe she is the grand 'love child' of Kandinsky and Schwitters"
PETER FRANK, Fine Art critic
"In her work recur the stark simplifications of suprematism and the extravagant elaborations of surrealism, the spare elegance of the Bauhaus and the lush color of the Fauves..."
Lark Pilinsky is a second-generation member of the acclaimed Bunker Group, a Los Angeles based collective of artists focused on non-conformism agenda and rejecting commercial trends in art, especially realism and, instead, experimenting with the philosophical and emotional dimensions of creativity.
As a legacy of the Bunker Group, Lark creates collages, - intricate symphonies assembled from “found” materials. Her works are deeply rooted in spontaneous gesture, creative chance, and the pursuit of beauty within apparent chaos. What distinguishes her practice is her luminous palette (in contrast to the heavier tones favored by the original Bunker founders), her expansive detailing, and her integration of assemblage traditions with painted, idea-rich backgrounds in her later period.
Lark’s artistic journey began with promoting and managing Bunker exhibitions, drawing on her journalism background. Soon, while assisting Kiki (Gregor Mikaelyan), the group’s leader, in preparing his collages, she was inspired to create her own compositions, which Kiki immediately recognized as gifted. He encouraged her to pursue her own artistic path.
Lark’s wall-hung and framed assemblages evoke the architectonic rigor of Russian Non-Conformism while retaining the surprise and irreverence of Dada, Pop Art, and Sots Art (Russia’s parallel to Pop). Over time, she has moved fluidly from classical collage/assemblage to semi-abstract landscapes built from fragments of everyday life set against painted fields. She integrates found materials, such as rusty toys, silk ribbons, fragments of photographs and newspapers, wood, metal, turning them into “actors” in her visual theater, where every element contributes to a memory-like, shimmering visualization.
Her guiding principle is always harmony, carefully orchestrating the selection, transformation, and placement of objects within the frame. Lark’s creative process is deeply tied to meditation, intuition, and the subconscious. Colleagues often note a recurring circular motif, a “whirl”, that appears throughout her work, which she says is not deliberate but simply “emerges.” She calls her collage process The Road from Samsara, which became a reflection of her own transformation after emigrating from the former Soviet Union and joining the next chapter of a movement of free creators.
Her art exists in a state of suspension between structure and entropy, between landscape as memory/atmosphere and abstraction as pure emotional field.
1. What is the style of painting Lark mostly uses?
Lark Larisa Pilinsky's style is a unique fusion of classical and contemporary art traditions, deeply rooted in meditation and intuition. She often begins her work in a spontaneous, meditative state, using gestural brushstrokes and a vibrant color palette. While her art often begins with abstract expressionist techniques, her creations typically evolve into impressionistic landscapes that channel the moods and atmospheric light of nature. She is also known for using "instruments" other than traditional brushes, such as pieces of cardboard, plexiglass, and wood, which allows her to experiment and create unique textures.
2. Why do people say she is a painter of Fairy Magic Portals?
While the term "Fairy Magic Portals" is not a widely used descriptor found in official reviews, her art is often described as having a metaphysical or otherworldly quality. Her paintings are said to possess a "powerful subtle light energy" and are "imbued with metaphors of cosmic harmony." The way she uses intricate, profound colors and soft, radiating light gives her work an enchanting, almost mystical quality that can make viewers feel like they are looking into another realm.
3. What makes her pictures look like portals to another dimension?
The "portal" effect in her paintings comes from a combination of her unique techniques and philosophical approach. Her process, which she describes as "channeling nature's moods and swimming in its atmospheric light," results in images that appear to emerge from a formless mist. The sweeping, almost sculpted brushstrokes and vibrant, glowing colors create a sense of depth and movement, as if the landscape is not just a static scene but a living, breathing energy. This ethereal and luminous quality, born from her meditative process, gives the viewer the feeling of gazing into a gateway to another world.
4. What is the significance of her art on the contemporary art realm?
Lark's art holds significance in the contemporary art realm due to her unconventional process and the emotional depth of her work. She is noted for her ability to "say something very different" amidst the contemporary art landscape. Her fusion of classical landscape painting with contemporary, abstract techniques and a spiritual, meditative approach sets her apart. She is also recognized for her "Green Artist" sensibilities, often using recycled materials and creating art that connects with the healing vibrations of nature.
5. What are major events celebrating her art, or what are the biggest achievements of her as an artist?
Lark has had a significant number of notable achievements and has been featured in prestigious exhibitions. Some of her major accomplishments include:
In 2021-2023, her art was exhibited at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art and the Shiba City Museum of Art in Japan.
She has received several awards, including a Golden Award for her painting "Vivaldi's Summer" at a group show at the Shiba City Museum of Art.
Her work has been featured in many art catalogs and has been sold to collectors globally in countries like France, Italy, Germany, and Japan.
She was part of the award-winning Bunker Art Group of Armenia, a group of artists who were considered "rebels in abstraction."
6. What people say about her pictures?
People who have seen Lark's work often have a strong, emotional reaction to it.
Irina Shulkin, a Wholesome Nutrition Instructor, has said that Lark's paintings "with their soft amazing shades and musical language reflect her inner poetry."
Suzi Maria, an Editorial Director, has noted that there is "something deeply intense and critical in the personal sensibilities and modalities of [her] art works."
Tony Clark, a Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, described her as an "exceptional phenomenon" with a "brilliant sense of composition," calling her "the grand 'love child' of Kandinsky and Schwitters." Viewers also describe her work as having a "cleansing and healing-the-body-and-soul" effect.