October 22nd, 2010 Art Soiree, with media support of a wonderful Kate Michael of K Street Kate, hosted the first exhibit of the season  The night featured artwork by three local female painters, live music and performances. The exhibit was also devoted to support and promotion of the breast cancer awareness, benefiting SUSAN G. KOMEN FOR CURE.

The exhibit showcased artwork of Emma O’Rourke, Wendy Wang and Aleksandra Katargina. Coming form different artistic backgrounds, with different visions these female artists were challenged to interpret life, to share their experience and to inspire conversation through their art.

Photo credit Yulia Mikhalchuk a.k.a. Shutterbloom www.shutterbloom.com
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Photo credit Daniel Swartz of REVAMP www.revamp.com

Emma O’Rourke began drawing and painting before she could talk. Born in London in 1970, her mother was a fashion illustrator, and her father; a failed artist, runs a fashion manufacturing firm. By the age of three she had her first works exhibited at the Ben Uri Gallery in London. However, forced by her father to choose a more commercial form of art, O’Rourke studied fashion. Throughout her college years, Emma practiced a freelance career in creative direction, painting, photography, styling and logo design for music bands such as ‘Two Unlimited’, ‘Incognito’, ‘Acid Jazz Records’, Metamorphosis, Melanie Blatt for ‘All Saints’.  After a stint trying to run away from London, she landed a real job working as an Art Director in advertising right in Soho Square, working with blue chip clients including Coca-Cola, Bacardi, Martini, Perrier and Fosters. Realizing however that promoting alcohol and nasty sodas was not doing anything good for the world, O’Rourke chose to paint full time. In 2000 she moved to the US. In her works she synthesizes the urban with the natural, ephemeral, ethereal and transcendental. Painting flowers and shells to symbolize harmony in our chaotic world, O’Rourke sees how heavenly serendipity weaves karmically throughout life. She has shown her work internationally and currently paints at her studio at the Jackson Art Center in DC. O’Rourke is represented by the Modern Artists Gallery and the Catto Gallery in Great Britain, and the Ralls Collection in Washington DC.

Wendy Wang is an up-and-coming young local artist. Primarily self-taught, Wang had a love for realism from an early age, and displayed a talent that drew her admirers from all over the nation.  Even as she pursued a career on Capitol Hill, Wendy never stopped painting. Painting a variety of different subject matters, Wang finds her great joy in portraiture, as it gives her an ability to preserve each subject’s unique personality for posterity. She takes her art to a different level through constantly challenging herself to keep the tradition of portraiture with addition of modern interpretations. Her paintings inspire stories and her carefully chosen subjects arise conversation. She has displayed at various Washington metropolitan area galleries and is a member of the Art League of Alexandria; National Oil & Acrylic Painter’s Society and the Portrait Society of America.

Aleksandra Katargina as a child was inspired by her mother’s drawings. When she finished high school she decided to pursue career in art and currently attends Maryland Institute College of Art.  Her paintings are narratives that entice the viewer while still leaving room for interpretation. She often uses classical literature and folklore as a base for her work. Behind this she conceals her response to contemporary social conflicts. Her urge to hide behind an imaginative world often reflects her distress with the surrounding world. Fascinated by human form because of its complexity she often incorporates it into her paintings. Katargina sees human body being emotionally expressive and having a great impact on the viewer although implying a certain level of individualistic particularity. For her it is a perfect way to pass on a message.