Artist Statement
At the core of my artistic practice is the exploration of a split identity and the experience of forever living "in-between." I was formed at the intersection of two cultures – Russian and Korean – in a space where the inability to fully merge with either breeds a continuous internal conflict. In Russia, I was always foreign by my face; in Korea – foreign by my cast of mind. This absolute otherness, along with the pain of isolation and displacement, has become not just my personal history, but the vital nerve of my art.
My art is a search for the form of that third state which arises when two distinct worlds collide. I did not choose this subject; I grew up inside it. What occupies me is what a person is given before any choice exists, and which cannot be handed back: origins, historical memory, and someone else’s gaze. On canvas, I explore the mechanics of this complex heritage, creating a visual language capable of holding what initially seems incompatible.
This duality defines not only the meaning, but also the very method of my work with the material. I deliberately leave the raw imprimatura exposed, allowing the paint to run freely and reveal a sense of vulnerability and fundamental incompleteness. This primal rawness stands in sharp contrast to the highly resolved, disciplined details of the painting. Precision and chaos, fragility and strength share a single plane, endlessly arguing with one another.
In my work, I do not try to choose a side, find a compromise, or smooth over contradictions. For me, art is the act of translating internal tension into tangible matter. It is an attempt to create a form for cultural rupture and pain where they can finally acquire density, silence, and their own voice.
Biography
Marina Ogai (b. 1993, Maysky, Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia) is a painter working in oil on linen and pencil on paper.
She is Koryo-saram: her ancestors were removed from the Russian Far East in 1937, and her family later settled in the Caucasus. Her grandmother spoke Koryo-mar, a language that has drifted so far from modern Korean that in Seoul it sounds old and other. As an adult she moved to Korea – and met the same split from the other side. In painting she is drawn to the same thing every time: strength beside fragility, impulse beside discipline – opposites that live together without cancelling each other out.
She trained at the children's art school in Maysky (2005–2010), then in painting, drawing and composition at Moscow State University of Design and Technology (2010–2016). More than twelve years as an art director followed, throughout which she never stopped her own practice; that grounding in visual systems and composition continues to shape her painting.
Her method begins with a living archive. Anything that stops the eye goes into it, and every few months she returns to see what repeats. Next to an image she writes: until a thought is put into words it stays a fragile impulse. Her sources are rarely painting itself – film broken into light, pause and rhythm; architecture; an overheard conversation. Every canvas passes one question: would she paint it this way if she knew no one would ever see it?
Work in private collections in the United States, Europe and Australia. She lives in Asia.
Selected
Education
2010–2016 – Moscow State University of Design and Technology (Painting, Drawing, Composition)
2005–2010 – Children's Art School, Maysky, Russia
Selected Exhibitions
2025 – The Art of Holding On, solo exhibition, Naya Veda Vastu, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
2024 – Layers of Resilience, solo exhibition, Naya Veda Vastu, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
2023 – Inaya, solo exhibition, Naya Veda Vastu, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
2022 – OPEN ART Barcelona, group exhibition, ART.NUMBER23, Barcelona, Spain
Selected Press
2023 – smART Magazine (Toronto), Issue 12: "Abstract: Marina Ogai."