paintings

by alisa zusin

"loose ties" gouache & gold acrylic on canvas. 18x24' 2024

I made this painting during my time at NYU summer arts in 2024. This piece is a self portrait, and symbolizes my journey with embracing my culture, and finding a beauty in it all. The background displays a flower regularly found in Uzbek embroidery, and an Uzbek fan with loose strings flying off the page. this portrait was really healing to make, and truly helped me find a true love for my culture when researching the different aspects I wanted to incorporate.

"the beauty of the body"
' gold leaf, acrylic paint, gold acrylic paint. 5 canvases, each canvas is 24x18 inch. 2024.

This series is a tribute that goes alongside my vase called "The Beauty of the Asymmetrical". I followed the same color scheme, and same "flowy" concept. In the original vase I used as a reference, there were intricate etchings of faces and bodies moving throughout the water-like glaze- line work following the movement of the glaze made to emulate water, and faces connecting to these flowing lines. The idea for this series was to emulate the movement of nature, and represent the true feeling of being one with nature- being truly instinctually human.

close ups:

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"C4MP" acrylic&modeling paste on canvas. 36x48, 2023

This work displays a moment of rest that I captured on my digital camera of my friends laying in the grass passing time at my summer sleep-away camp- Camp Jeanne D'Arc. This camp has brought me connections for life, and memories that will forever live in my heart. I wanted this painting to give the viewer the sense of family: home, community, warmth, and peace. These are all things that I relate to my experience at my camp, and many others as well. I used modeling paste for the sheet to bring a sense of dimension to my painting, and it has accents of gold paint throughout the work and on the rims of the work. I hope this painting reminds others of their times as teenagers- living in pure bliss with their friends at their home away from home.

"K&A" acrylic on canvas, 24x30' 2022

This piece is very near-and-dear to my heart. This is a painting I made of me and my best friend, Kelsey Mia Valdes. She has helped shape me to the person I am today, and I am forever grateful for her existence and role in my life. This painting is about friendship, embrace, and loving. I purposefully made myself look straight to the viewer to signify past me looking into present time- present me. This embrace may be from a moment stuck in time, but it can be recreated so many more times, with so much more meaning each time. Love and respect are something that have been constants in my life, and I have not received more love or respect from anyone more than Kelsey.

"The Movement of Dance" oil paint on canvas. 18x24' ,2024

This painting is inspired by a photograph of me and my friend Dio at Washington Square Park dancing after a day of classes during Summer 2024 at NYU. My summer at NYU was one of the best in my life- creating memories for life and art that truly changed the way I viewed the art making process.

I started with a wipe out technique after a layer of green paint on the canvas. I kept adding on to the underpainting ultimately creating the final piece. Oil paint is a really tricky medium for me, and I am rather content with the final result. I had been so used to acrylic painting so in moments I found myself working with the oils as if they were acrylics. After making an adjustment I was able to really lock into the process of oil painting.

"Детство" acrylic, cloth, and plastic on canvas. 24x30

This piece is taken from a photo of my cousin getting ready for her birthday party. The dress she is wearing is passed down from generations of girls on their third birthday to wear in my family. She sits in her dress as my grandma ties her hair up, sitting in her messy room full of toys passed down from me and my sister. The work symbolizes childhood, and the calm that can be found in the storm of the messy rooms, cries, and ups and downs of a girl growing up.

"disco" acrylic & collage on canvas. 44x60" 2022

This work was my very first large scaled painting. It signifies friendship, and the light that comes with acceptance. The prompt for this assignment was to add some sort of mixed- media, so I added different collage-aspects to the work.

"дань уважения дедушке"
acrylic, gold leaf, salt on canvas. 18 x 24 ', 24 x 30 '. 2024.

This series is a tribute to my grandfather, Micheal Isaakovich Zusin, who died of lung cancer before my younger sister was born. This loss hit my family so hard- my parents had just moved to America and only recently were able to afford my grandparents to move in with them. My grandfather supported my family through everything. He showed so much love and support for not only me, but my father, and his brother. This series is to show his memory- display the love he spread and to show my family that his legacy- his memory- will never be forgotten. This work is a 4 canvas series done in acrylic paint, and gold leaf. I also used salt for the last, larger painting to show the foam of the sea on the sand. Overall, this series is very near and dear to my heart, and hopefully my family agrees. This series will be given to my family for New Years, which is my family's Christmas.

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"zolotoe granat" 24 x 28 , acrylic on canvas

This piece is centered around family, earth, and the joys of trying something new. This work is based off a photo of my younger brother trying pomegranate for the first time. In my family, pomegranate is such a valued fruit. It’s the fruit of our country, and pomegranates used to grow in my parents backyard and gardens. Before starting this work, I really wanted to ensure that i worked in thin layers, and used medium to build up my pigments. Before going into details, I did a wash of gold and then went over it with thin layers of acrylic. I really like the effect it gave, so when light shines on certain parts of the work the gold peeks through.