acrylic painting of a colorful furry woman holding a cat and smiling.
acrylic painting of a colorful furry woman holding a cat and smiling.

anka yanovna

Intergalactic Mistress of Mystery and irredeemable lover of cats.

Anka Yanovna is a multidisciplinary artist working primarily with acrylics to paint strange and otherworldly characters. Each piece serves as a window into the myriad of dimensions that intersect Earth’s reality.

Anka was born in St. Petersburg, Russia and spent her formative years living and working in New York City before establishing her current practice in the Maine woods.

✦ selected work ✦

tattoo cats : a series exploring the fusion of natural and artificial elements of tattoo imagery embedded in fur.

wall sculptures created on hand shaped aluminum panels.

adventures in toonland : strange beings on strange journeys

wood bot and friends : figures and creatures, those seeking new horizons and those waiting to be found

created on hand shaped aluminum panels

creation myths : the sky is falling and the future is unknowable

pesky lescoot : mischief and mayhem coming through, beep beep!

the caterpillar ballet : visual novel of a wonderful and mysterious performance lost to time...

it's alive! : collaged and hand drawn animation

the fruits fantastic : colored pencil stills of the greatest show on earth

astrogals awayyy : groovy adventures in space and beyond

all of the art features original concepts and characters created by Anka Yanovna

exhibition history

2024

“Small Works Exhibition” group show at Glave Kocen Petite, Richmond, VA

“Everything But The Kitchen Sink” group show at La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

"Micro Gallery" group show at Distinction Gallery, Escondido, CA

(upcoming) “Enchanted Kingdoms” group show at Poetic Tiger Gallery, Boise, ID

(upcoming) “Cute and Creepy” group show at Hive Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

(upcoming) “Opulent Gaze” group show at Poetic Tiger Gallery, Boise, ID

2023

“Punk Pop Up” group show with the Guerrilla Arts Council, Portland, ME

“Everything But The Kitchen Sink” group show at La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

"Open Minds / Open Lives" pop-up show, Bangor, ME

2022

“Annual Members Show” at the Maine Art Gallery, Wiscassett, ME

“Punk Pop Up” group show with the Guerrilla Arts Council, Portland, ME

“Everything But The Kitchen Sink” group show at La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

skills

✦ traditional painter working with acrylics for over 15 years

✦ traditional + digital collage

✦ digital painting + graphics : vector / raster

✦ simple animations + GIF art

✦ sculpture work : plaster / paper mache / polymer clay

♡ always experimenting, always learning

commercial work

✦ (upcoming) cover art for "Inner Worlds" literary zine

✦ Food packaging artwork for FFT International, pitching a whipped cream product to the Japanese market. The project involved researching popular Japanese pastries to incorporate into a bakery landscape, and create a walking muffin with a tower of whipped cream on separate layers so their design team could adjust as they saw fit. My work comprised of two acrylic paintings – one background, and one muffin with whipped cream – which I scanned, lightly cleaned up in a digital arts program, and cut out the muffin into a PNG file. The background was painted in a wraparound style to make a seamless image when placed on a cylindrical can.

✦ Graphics and branding for "The Indescribable Wow" radio program. An eclectic station needed eclectic art for their website and t-shirts. I created a series of digital collages that combined vintage photography and illustration with rainbow galaxies in a UK/California mashup. Picture boomboxes held by catgirls at the seaside in the 1940s.

✦ Graphics and branding for WCFA radio station. Similar work as for The Indescribable Wow, but with more focus on poster designs to draw in local listeners, and inform tourists of the station’s online radio streaming so they could continue to listen after leaving the beach town of Cape May, New Jersey. I created digital collage designs with a 1950s retrofuture spin, as well as digital illustrations and a logo redesign for their website.

✦ Mural work and trompe l'oeil paintings in private residences. Large scale paintings, most often flowers, involved working directly with clients to design work that would complement existing décor. I had to create multiple renderings to-scale for approval before starting work, which had to be completed on a tight deadline.

✦ Logo design for Maine Art Council, a non-profit arts organization that provided low cost programming for children, adult continuing-education classes, and a venue for local art shows and events.

✦ Various art commissions for private clients, ongoing. I truly enjoy working with people to create custom artwork. My love for various art styles and subjects should be viewed as a jumping-off point for what I am capable of creating with a client's personal twist. A notable work is “Bad Girl” which incorporated the client’s personal tattoos and love for Medieval art into a painting of a snarling cat with parchment fur, in the style of an illuminated manuscript. The research and rendering are a huge part of the fun when I thrive on new experiences.

select examples