Elena Lyakir

Born: 1975

Hometown: Chernihiv

Based in: Marlboro, Vermont

Raised in communist Ukraine and influenced by mysticism and nostalgia of Soviet cinematography and literature, Elena developed a passion for photography as a young child. In 1990 she immigrated to rural U.S. with her family, seeking political asylum, and at 18 she arrived in New York City alone, impressionable, and adrift. Fascinated by the culture, energy, and ingenuity of the city, she first tried to make ends meet by working as a model and assisting photographers. In 1995 Elena found herself swept away by the vibrant avant-garde art scene of the Lower East Side and creating art became her passion and purpose. She started using large format and toy film cameras and eventually studied photography at MSFA but her unorthodox approach to the medium and adverse childhood experiences with oppressive authority in Ukraine impelled Elena to continue pursuing her art through independent studies and experimentation.
Elena’s work is included in private and corporate collections. She has exhibited in galleries and art fairs in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Berlin, Paris, Lille, Sydney, and Istanbul and continues to produce commissioned work for hospitality clients, brands, and collectors in New York City and around the globe.
"My interest in the aesthetic relationship between photography and other disciplines influences my whimsical approach. I intend to push the limits of the medium to suggest painterly abstractions. I employ tilt-shift lenses and make in-camera double exposures. These techniques allow room for spontaneity and help reveal the unseen often leading me to new discoveries. The resulting images have a subtly abstract quality, which serves as a visceral interpretation of the ephemeral nature of the human experience and the environment. I find gratification in the extemporaneous quality of these creative processes and view my practice as a deepening of the seeing eye and an exercise of instinct and connectivity." Elena Lyakir

Elena Lyakir In The Studio

I believe that feeling is crucial to creating a work of art, thus I am driven by visceral and emotional responses to the process of seeing. I see nature as the first and most fundamental source of essence, spirit, and myth and I am inspired by both its beauty and nourishment, as well as its unpredictability and fierceness.

More About Elena Lyakir

Question Icon What inspires you?

I see nature as the first and most fundamental source of essence, spirit, and myth and I am inspired by both its beauty and nourishment, as well as its unpredictability and fierceness. Through my artwork I also explore how our sentiments, desires, and memories influence how we see and process the exterior world around us.

Question Icon Describe your creative process.

I spend time in meditative self inquiry and when I come across a feeling, a longing , or a memory I want to explore I create an image in my mind's eye that could be conveyed as a poetic visual metaphor for that sentiment and would serve as a visceral connection between myself and the world. With nature as my subject, I employ tilt-shift lenses and make in-camera double exposures; a rather unusual aesthetic effect in an attempt to create a very personal and a visceral connection with the process of seeing and deeper investigate our collective inner landscapes.

Question Icon What are 3 words that best describe your work?

Visceral, emotive, poetic.

Question Icon Who are some artists that have influenced your work?

I am mostly inspired by poetry and literature. Anais Nin, Rebecca Solnit, Milan Kundera, Clarice Lispector, Arthur Rimbaud, Leonard Cohen, Anna Akhmatova, D.H. Lawrence, to name a few.

Question Icon What is the most important tool when creating your work?

Attention, spontaneity, ingenuity, feeling rather than thinking.

Question Icon What is the best piece of advice you have been given?

Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.

Question Icon Where do you go for inspiration?

Nature, travel, poetry, music, mysticism, memory and consciousness exploration.

Collections Featuring Elena Lyakir

5 Collections

Unique Art Pieces for the Holiday Season

72 Artists, 94 Products

Last updated: October 24, 2023

Stunning Photography Pieces to Elevate Your Interior Designs

30 Artists, 52 Products

Last updated: September 12, 2023

Minimalist Landscape Photography

17 Artists, 36 Products

Last updated: August 17, 2021

View all collections

Credentials

Education

Museum School Of Fine Arts

United States of America, 1998

Awards

Feature Shoot, Into The Wild: Nature Photography Award

2015

The Photo Democracy Awards for Fine Art Photography, London

2013

New York Center For Photographic Arts, Emerging Talent Award

2013

Exhibitions

Suburban Salon

United States of America, 2021

HomeMADE

United States of America, 2020

Quivers Of Spring

United Kingdom, 2019

A Walk In The Forest

United States of America, 2019

Forces Of Nature

United States of America, 2019

Le Cirque de la Bete de Givre

United States of America, 2018

No Longer Supported

United States of America, 2018

Aves, Galerie Claude Samuel

United States of America, 2017

Soft Spoken

United States of America, 2017

Heliotrope

United States of America, 2017

Skins, La Maison de la Photographie

United States of America, 2016

The Twyla House

United States of America, 2016

Image Still

Turkey, 2016

Aesthetic Emotion

United States of America, 2015

ON-SITE 16 Cities

Germany, 2015

ON-SITE 16 Cities

Australia, 2015

There Is No Room For Us Here

United States of America, 2015

Reinventing The Helm

United States of America, 2015

Salon De Lafayette

United States of America, 2014

Punctuated History

United States of America, 2013

Visual Poetry

United States of America, 2013

To Deny Our Nothingness

United States of America, 2013

Seasons

United States of America, 2013

International Award Winners Exhibition

United Kingdom, 2013

Shelf Life

Germany, 2012

Living Arrangements

United States of America, 2012

Love And Passion

United States of America, 2012

Press

Don’t Take Pictures Magazine, Peerspace, Cultural Pursuit, Darien Times

2020

Hamptons Star

2019

Fisheye Magazine

2018

Edition T Feature, Hamptons Art Hub, Wall Street International, Le Parisien, Lille La Nuit

2017

Fotopolis Magazine Photographer Feature, Apartment 34

2016

Lensbaby Blog Photographer Feature, Feature Shoot, Artist Portfolio Magazine, HH&G, Silvershotz, Art Nerd LA

2015

Feature Shoot, Blum Collection, Kireei, The City Girl is Changing

2014

Actuphoto, Art Daily, ArteFuse, Artsy, Brooklyn Magazine, Bensozia, Inhabitat, Fashion Daily Magazine

2013

Photographie au Feminin, InStyle Magazine, The Roger, The New York Optimist

2012

ABC Reveal, Corridor 40, and Petits Papiers

2011

Elle Décor

2010