Art Beats Festival 24

Bug Life 2 (Nikita Andrejev)

from Bug Life series

Oil paint on canvas - 60 x 68.5 cm

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Artist Statement

The core of my practice revolves around exploring the materiality of paint and the expressive potential of mark-making. I draw inspiration from the natural world, capturing organic forms ranging from stones and trees to fungi and animal anatomy.


While my work is deeply rooted in the formal language of painting, my main statement emphasises that humans should not forget our animalistic nature. Many of our emotions, feelings, and actions have primal roots.


I also explore the question, “What is natural?” by examining living and non-living formations in our world, such as insects, animals, plants, fungi, and rocks. I use these diverse and enchanting forms to honour and connect with Mother Nature and our animalistic origins.

Nikita Andrejev

Born in 2001, in Vilnius, Lithuania. At the age of 11, I have picked up carpentry. Although my artworks do not focus on woodworking beyond stretcher-making, I have been producing furniture and other woodworking projects ever since, and still consider them to be a part of my creative practice. In 2016, at the age of 15, I have moved to the UK and lived there as a boarding student at “The Royal Wolverhampton School” (Wolverhampton, UK), where started drawing and painting. After finishing high school (GCSEs), I moved as a boarding student to “Liverpool College” (Liverpool, UK) in 2018, where I graduated with A-levels. In 2020, I started a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art and Design at “Lancaster University” (Lancaster, UK), while narrowing my focus purely to painting. That was the time that I consider to be the start of my professional practice, bringing the quality of my work to the industry standard and exhibiting publicly. I completed my degree in the summer of 2023. Shortly after, I built my first large concrete sculpture. In September 2023, I moved to London, where I am currently residing, while carrying on my creative practice of painting and exhibiting.