An exhibition of oil paintings is being brought to Preston by a Russian artist who spent most of her career in an office.
Lara Smith was born in Moscow but has lived in Lancashire for 27 years. After working for many years in accounting and administration, in 2021 Lara decided to change path and immerse herself in fine arts.
“I’ve always loved drawing,” Lara told Blog Preston. “I have also read a lot about the history of art, as well as its technical aspects such composition, colour study, human anatomy, perspective, and oil painting techniques.”
In 2023, Lara graduated from University of Lancashire with an MA in Fine Arts. She is now working at the uni on her PhD project titled Post-socialism, the Decline of Metanarratives and its Reflection in Art within the former GDR and after the Reunification / Werner Tuebke as a Dimension of my Art Practice.
Lara’s exhibition at SHOP in Syke Street – titled Fallen – will showcase a series of works inspired by her Russian heritage and exposure to classical art.
Lara said: “Being born in Russia and admiring the classical Russian school of the 19th and early 20th centuries had a massive impact on me. My art practice has also been influenced by traditional Russian iconography, which has its roots in Byzantine imagery.”
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Lara’s first MA in linguistics, specialising in German, took her to East Germany, where she became interested in the Early Renaissance and Flemish masters such as Albrecht Dürer, Pieter Bruegel, and Jan van Eyck. Their use of sfumato, chiaroscuro, and oil glazing techniques had a huge impact on her work.
“I saw it as a challenge to apply these techniques in the modern art scene,” said Lara.
She continued: “My art is devoted to the search for modern metanarratives. After the fall of socialism, a lot of people found themselves in a situation where consumption replaced their inner ideals. I am trying to get back to the ideas of Enlightenment and re-evaluate the contemporaneity.”
Lara has previously exhibited in Preston at the Hanover Building and The Birley, and had her work shown in the crypt of Blackburn Cathedral as part of the 2023 British Textile Biennial.
She will be exhibiting at PR1 Gallery in Victoria Building during January, and hopes to show her work in Darmstadt, Germany, later in 2026. For now, she’s hoping her Fallen exhibition will make an impact in Preston.
“Hopefully, if somebody passes the window at SHOP and sees my Industrialisation Madonna executed in the style of Jan van Eyck, it will make them stop for a moment in wonder – and for me, that means I have achieved my goal.”
The Fallen exhibition will be on display at SHOP Preston from Thursday 13 to Monday 17 November. There will be an open evening on Friday from 4pm, and on Saturday at 12pm Lara will host a workshop on oil glazing techniques.
For more information, follow @larabsmith588 on Instagram.
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