Anne Bobroff-Hajal

My art is deeply influenced by my ties to Russia, where I lived for a year; to Lebanon, where I travel to visit family; and to the countries of many international friends.

All of my art focuses on relationships among people, from intimate bonds among family members, through friendships, to societal relations.

In portraiture, my focus is facial expression and body language, because these are the visual means by which people connect with each other. I strive to paint the unique way each subject's facial expression and body language engage other people. I paint my subjects in their own environments, wearing clothing they choose. I don't pose subjects in my studio, which has little to do with their lives.

In my portraiture, I paint with tiny brushes in acrylic, layering countless different shades of color. Some areas of my paintings have 20, 30, or more very thin layers of paint. These multiple colors overlapping in different ways create the vivid, "alive" effect of my work, although the surface of the painting is virtually flat.

Another series of elaborate mixed media works I’m creating illustrates Russian history. These artworks are collectively titled PLAYGROUND OF THE AUTOCRATS. Triptych #2 of this series was selected by curator Nan Rosenthal for Contemporary Confrontations, an exhibit of political art at the Katonah Art Museum in 2009. It was included in the New York Times review of the show by Benjamin Gennocchio, February, 2009.

In PLAYGROUND OF THE AUTOCRATS, I’m exploring the root causes of the inhumanity of Russian dictators. I do this using humor, whimsy, and beauty to facilitate grappling with the causes of calamity and oppression.

My style in these mixed media works is influenced by animation storyboards – and by Russian icons and folk-tale illustration, both of which often have elaborate painted borders of secondary images related to the main painting. For a number of years, I was as a board member of the New York chapter of L’Association Internationale des Films Animés, the international animation society. The music and lyrics included in my mixed media work are like the songs used in art animation shorts to drive forward the visual imagery.

I grew up in Sudbury, MA, and attended Sarah Lawrence College, where I studied art and history. I earned a Ph. D. in Russian History from the University of Michigan. My book, Working Women in Russia Under the Hunger Tsars, was published in 1994.