Alexandra Kokin
Artist
Knots to Remember
This series emerged after I left wartime Russia and moved to Israel. I felt like a tree uprooted from familiar soil. I was born in it and carried it with me, yet it had never been the land of my people. I felt a connection to the Land of Israel that reached back long before I was born. This series is about loss and belonging, about finding my way by touch and trying to take root in a soil that promises life.
"Transformation" (2023) 65x77, clay based color and pastel on paper
"Forget-me-knot" (2023) 60x80 cm, clay based color and pastel on paper
"Remember your desires" (2023) 60x80cm. ink, watercolor and pastel on paper
"Unknown place" (2023) 66x66 cm, clay based color and pastel on paper
Exodus
Exodus explores the experience of leaving one world without yet belonging to another. Space becomes a territory of transition, where identity gradually changes.In a contemporary interpretation, exodus is both a loss and a possibility of becoming.
Exodus (2026) 100 x 80 cm acrylic, modeling paste and sand on canvas
Path in Desert (2026) 90x180cm acrylic, modeling paste and sand on canvas
People in desert (2026) 100 x 120cm acrylic, modeling paste and sand on canvas
Generation of the Desert (2026) 100 x 140 cm acrylic, modeling paste and sand on canvas
New life (2026) 100 x 140 cm acrylic, modeling paste and sand on canvas
Shelter
Shelter (ongoing series)
Shelter is a series about the possibility of finding inner support in a world where the sense of safety is disappearing. These works are about the moment when, amidst destruction, uncertainty, and fear, a space emerges in which a person is able to breathe again.
Island of refuge 2026, 50x70 cm, ( 19,7x27,6in ), acrylic on canvas
Shelter 2026, 50x70 cm, (19,7x27,6 in ), acrylic on canvas
The one, who leads 2026, 70x50cm, ( 27,6x19,7in ), acrylic on canvas
City of Light
Light gathers beneath the ancient arches, lifting the quiet footsteps of those who pass.
This is Jerusalem I paint - a place where the stone breathes and music becomes light.
“Again, children will play in your streets” 2026, 100x120cm, (39,4 x47,2 in), acrylic on canvas
“Passage” 2026, 50x70 cm, (19,7 x 27,6 in), acrylic on canvas
“While the City sleeps” 2026, 90x120cm, (35,4 x47,2 in), acrylic on canvas
“Sun over the City” 2026, 90x120cm, (35,4 x47,2 in), acrylic on canvas
“Sun over the City” 2026, 90x120cm, (35,4 x47,2 in), acrylic on canvas
“The way home” 2026, 70x50 cm, (27,6 x 19,7 in), acrylic on canvas
“The Light in The City” 2026, 70x50 cm, (27,6 x 19,7 in), acrylic on canvas
"The wind", 2018, 50x70, oil on cardboard
"Good morning from Jerusalem" 2023, 60x80, acrylic on paper
"Glow over the city" 2023, 60x80, acrylic on paper
"Two trees" 2018, 70x50, oil on canvas
"Jerusalem" 2018, 50x70, acrylic on canvas
"About the light" 2018, 70x50, oil on canvas
Between Light and Shadow 100x140cm, acrylic on canvas
Yom Yerushalaim (Jerusalem Day) 100x80 cm,acrylic on canvas
Music of Jerusalem 100x80. acrylic on canvas
Path of Light and Memory 90x120 cm. acrylic on canvas
Old city of Jerusalrm 100x70, acrylic on canvas
Hanukkah is comming 100x80, acrylic on canvas
Sunrise by The Kotel 90x120 cm, acrylic on canvas
The Western Wall acrylic on canvas 90x180 cm, 35x71
In Search of Paradise
This series is a reflection on Eden, the lost paradise where humanity and the world were one. The garden did not disappear after the expulsion, humanity lost the ability to see it. It remains close, almost within reach, but the way back must be found by touch.
Tetris Garden 2023, 80x80 cm, ( 31,5 x 31,5 in) oil on canvas
"The garden without me" (2023) 80x90, oil on linen
"Wandering around" (2023) 80x90, oil on linen
Garden before 2026, Ø 40 cm (15.7 in) acrylic on board
Garden after 2026, Ø 40 cm (15.7 in) acrylic on board
The First Garden 2026, 90x120 cm (35.4x47,2 in). acrylic on canvas
Twilight Garden 2024, 100x100 cm, (39,4 x 39,4 in), acrylic on canvas
Threshold 2026, 2 panels 120x90 cmx2, (47,2x35,4 in x 2). acrylic on canvas
“Pardes” 2026, 100x120 cm, acrylic and mixed media on canvas
People of war
People of War was created in 2022, after Russian unvasion of Ukrain. I was looking at faces transformed by a war of agression, fear grief, exaustion, disbelief.
After October 7, 2023, these faces acquired another meaning for me.
I was living through war again, in my country, a country that had been attacked and was fighting to defend itself.
VARNISHED
A beautiful, glamorous surface hides a vicious reality.
"The double white line" (2022). 80x60cm, tempera and acrylic on paper. Sold.
"Entering, exiting" (2022). 60x80cm, tempera on paper
"Sunshine" (2022). 60x80cm, tempera on paper
"Clean city" (2022). 80x60cm, tempera on paper
"Ordinary city" (2022). 60x80cm, tempera on paper
"The wind" (2022). 80x60cm, tempera on paper
"Back to the future" (2022). 60x80cm, tempera on paper
"Modern landscape" (2023) 60x80cm, tempera on paper
"The red river" (2023) 60x80cm, tempera on paper
AUGUST
August is a time of liberty and repression, of the fight for freedom and of silent acceptance. This series captures an emotional reaction to political events in Russia and Belarus. It is an attempt to define what freedom means in the modern world, to find the balance between civil liberty and chaos, between order and violence, to show the choice between self-preservaton and loss of human dignity.
"August" (2020). 45x37cm, watercolor on paper. Sold.
"Premonition" (2020). 73x51cm, watercolor and charcoal on paper
"Silent watchers" (2020). 51x36cm, watercolor on paper
"Do you have the courage..." (2020). 36.5x49cm, watercolor on paper
"There still will be music" (2020). 72x51cm, watercolor on paper. Sold.
"The black sky" (2020). 51.5x73cm, watercolor on paper
Parts of the World
"Part one" (2021). 60x80cm, clay based color on paper
"The red zone" (2021). 70x80cm, clay based color and watercolor on paper
"A homage to Babel" (2021). 113x75cm, clay based color and watercolor on paper. Sold
"Who needs the ark" (2021). 75x113cm, clay based color and watercolor on paper
"Heroes" (2021). 70x80cm, clay based color and watercolor on paper. Sold
"Evolution" (2021). 70x80cm, clay based color, acrylic and watercolor on paper
"Isolation" 2020, 50x70 cm, acrylic on canvas
"Ten steps" 2020, 50x70 cm, acrylic on canvas
External beauty
In Malevich’s Suprematist reality, the endless rhythm of Soviet life, whatever superficial change may come, reverts in the end to the very same reality.
Joseph Brodsky wrote: “The future holds nothing but prose”. Under totalitarianism, poetry is not worth waiting for, because the future holds nothing but prose. Such is the routine of the inevitable return to Soviet Suprematist reality.
"It will get better tomorrow" (2021). 38x27cm, watercolor on paper
"The future is bright" (2021). 38x27cm, watercolor on paper. Sold
"Soviet Gothic" (2021). 38x27cm, watercolor on paper
"The future holds nothing but prose" (2021). 27x38cm, watercolor on paper
"Beautiful is more joyful" 2021 27x38cm, watercolor on paper sold
"Out of body" 2021 27x38cm, watercolor on paper sold
Nuance
"Despair" 29,5x21cm, watercolor on paper
"A game" 29,5x21cm, watercolor on paper
"Haveness" 29,5x21cm, watercolor on paper
"Here I am!" 29,5x21cm, watercolor on paper
"Time flow" 29,5x21cm, watercolor on paper
"Love" 29,5x21cm, watercolor on paper
The great-grandmother’s dress
Grew up in a family that went through all trials of the 20th century, both Stalinist repressions and German captivity during the Second World War,
I need to figure out how our ancestors passed through their life, and how we having comprehended their experience as a collective trauma should keep living.
"The great-grandmother's dress" 2020 37x25cm, ink and watercolor on paper sold
"Respite" 2020 37x25cm, and watercolor on paper sold
"Death" 2020 37x25cm, ink and watercolor on paper sold
"Home, return" 2020 37x25cm, and watercolor on paper sold