ALLA TKACHUK

Alla Tkachuk: artist, curator, and consultant with nearly two decades of expertise in creativity education and advocacy.

Alla Tkachuk holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Technical Science degrees from the National University of Technologies in Kyiv, Ukraine. Since relocating to the UK in the 1990s, she has established a distinguished career in fine arts and education.

Her artistic practice has received notable acclaim, with features on the front pages of major publications such as The Times (UK) and Bild (Germany). Her work has been highlighted in over 40 articles across renowned media outlets including The Guardian, The Independent, Jackdaw Art Review, Art Industry, Hello!, Der Spiegel, Die Welt, and ITV. Alla has showcased her art in more than 20 solo and group exhibitions worldwide, and her pieces are part of esteemed collections such as the Royal College of Music and the BBC Public Ownership Collection. She has been recognised with prestigious awards, including the Leverhulme Artist-in-Residence Award (UK) in 2004, and Lead Awards for Print and Media (Germany) in 2006. Alla is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA).

In 2007, Alla founded MASK Create to ntegrating creativity into mainstream education and society. The organisation has made a global impact in over 60 countries and has received international recognition for excellence and  its innovative approach to education.

In 2015, Alla launched Creativity-Gym, a pioneering platform offering programmes designed to embed creativity into personal and organisational development strategies, fostering long-term success.

Artist Statement

My artistic practice explores human identity through both representational art and the fusion of art with technology. With my MASK project, I bring to life the social dimension of art, demonstrating how it can transform education, cultivate creativity, and empower individuals to drive meaningful change.

MAIN PROJECTS

The National Portrait Gallery Seminars

In 2004–2006, Alla curated her own seminar series titled ‘The Changing Face of Portraiture’ at the National Portrait Gallery in London, debating with artists and critics how portraiture can escape the ‘shackles of convention’. The Times (UK) was the series’ media partner. The series comprised three seminars: ‘Contemporary Portrait Painting: New Approaches’ (April 2005); ‘Photographic and Digital Portraiture’ (Sept 2005); and ‘3D & Installation Portraiture’ (June 2006).

The Times wrote: ‘Alla Tkachuk believes that radical new concepts are needed in portraiture today. She would like to encourage 3D digital and installation portraiture, has invited a cosmetic surgeon to discuss him “sculpting faces”, commissioned a “sound portrait” that uses computer software which translates image into music, and offered herself as a living portrait to grace the walls of the NPG. Tkachuk intends the choice of venue to be provocative. The NPG was established by the Victorians as a gallery about the history and status of the sitter rather than the quality of the portrait as art.’ (The Times, 13 June 2006.)

Prince Charles Portrait Series

In 2000–2002, following a sitting at Highgrove at the invitation of HRH, Alla created a series of drawings and paintings of Prince Charles. These featured on the front page of The Times (UK), Bild (Germany). The image ‘Black Prince’ was used for Der Freund magazine cover in 2005 and won the Gold Medal ‘Best Magazine Cover of the Year 2005' of the Lead Awards for print and media (Germany) in 2006. The series was exhibited at Ebury Galleries in London's Belgravia in 2002.

Portraits

Between 1997 and 2024, Alla completed a number of private and public commissions, including portraits of Sir Antonio Pappano, music director of the Royal Opera House (ROH), and renowned opera singers such as Sir John Tomlinson, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Sir Bryn Terfel, Dame Felicity Lott, Angela Gheorghiu, Sir Willard White, Sir Thomas Allen, José Cura, and Marcelo Álvarez. These works were exhibited at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and the ROH. She also painted Dame Ninette de Valois, commissioned by the Royal Ballet, and portraits of principal dancers Dame Darcey Bussell, Irek Muhamedov, and Jonathan Cope. The portrait of Dame Darcey Bussell was featured on the front page of The Times (UK) in 1999. Other commissions include portraits for the University of Hull, University of London, and the Russian Academy of Sciences.

‘The 20th Century Naked Dictators’ 

This 2002–2007 series of oil paintings, digital prints, wallpaper and textile design and an animation explored the historical figures of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Mao, and Stalin. It was exhibited at the Crone Gallery in Berlin in 2007. The painting ‘Siamese Twins’ became ‘The Image of the Week’ in The Times (UK) in 2003, and was named the ‘Critic's Choice’ by the Saatchi Gallery in 2007. The animation ‘Christ is Not an Aryan’ was screened on top of the Axel Springer Building in Berlin in 2007 and dubbed ‘one of three things to see in Berlin’ by Bild national newspaper and BZ magazine (Germany). The images of ‘The Naked Dictators’ were published in Der Freund in 2005; other images of the series featured in the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper, Sleek magazine, and Die Welt newspaper (Germany).

‘Instigative Heads’

This 2004–2010 series explored the transformation of the production and consumption of representational art through modern 3D digital technologies. Alla's innovative technique involved scanning life models using specialist 3D medical equipment to produce 'texture maps' which she then rendered in oil. Using specialist software, Alla merged the oil paintings into 3D digital ‘paintings’, moulding them in space and time. When exhibited, she enhanced the final work with 'electro-acoustic landscapes' and motion-sensing technology, enabling visitors to interact with the Heads. The work was exhibited as 3D colour-printed models and projections at The Shunt (London, 2009) and the Balaklava Odyssey Media Art Festival (Crimea, 2010). In 2006, the Heads were featured at Alla’s seminars at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Pop-up galleries

Alla ORGANISED pop-up art galleries showcasing her work on King's Road in Chelsea in 2008 and in Mayfair in 2009.

MASK Create
Founded MASK Create (maskcreate.org) in 2007 to integrate creativity into mainstream education and society. Since its inception, MASK has impacted thousands of young people across over 60 countries, and has received awards including:

• Most Innovative Learning Organisation 2020 – SME News Greater London Awards (UK)
• Top Website 2022 – Thegoodestate (USA)
• Most Visionary Learning Organisation. Innovation in Education Excellence Award 2024 – Acquisition International Non-Profit Organisation Awards (UK)

Alla developed an innovative creativity learning model, and currently creating educational resources, including reference books and teachers' manuals. She delivered insights to policymakers and industry at leading platforms such as UNESCO IIEP's Policy Forum Conference on 'Engaging Youth in Planning Education for Social Transformation' in Paris (2012), and UNESCO KNC's 'International Forum on Development Cooperation in the Field of Culture' in Seoul (2014). Partnering with over 80 international organisations, she organised more than 40 exhibitions, conferences, and talks at venues such as the University of London, Woodrow Wilson Centre, Library of Congress, GW University, the White House (USA); Saatchi Gallery, Turner Contemporary, ROSL (UK); Nairobi National Museum, KEPSA, and the University of Nairobi (Kenya). Between 2014 and 2021, she authored over 200 articles for the column ‘How to Look at Art’ in The Star (Kenya), and developed content and analysis on creativity and the arts for diverse audiences, contributing to the RSA blog (UK), Results for Development Institute blog (USA), and magazines including AD (UK), Childhood Education (USA), and The Private Sector (Kenya).

Creativity Gym

In 2015, Alla established Creativity-Gym (creativity-gym.com) to embed creativity into personal and business development strategies. In 2015, it  launched 'Creativity Top-Up' workshops at Saatchi Gallery, London, which received high praise from participants: “Creative gymnastics were a joy. Bravo!”; “The training was uplifting and inspiring.”; “Creativity Gym trainers were supporting and inspirational, building confidence and skills.”

Artwork

Testimonials

Exhibitions

Critical Acclaim

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Email                           alla@allatkachuk.com