Hi! I'm Alena [a-liO-na], a figurative artist who captures the every day stories of our time and place through painting
Background
Alena Gastaldi is a Russian-born artist based in Luxembourg. She works across drawing, painting, and printmaking, with a practice rooted in plein air observation and figurative work.
Her background in architecture, restoration of architectural heritage, and narrative-driven interior design informs her understanding of space as shaped by human presence, memory, and use. As part of a conceptual design team, she developed narrative-driven interior concepts for international clients, working across architecture, storytelling, and collaboration with artists. This experience continues to inform her approach to space as a constructed and meaning-bearing environment. Academic training in drawing, painting, sculpture, and composition formed a significant part of her six-year architectural studies in Kostroma, Russia, and continues to underpin her work.
(photo by Jenya Barrat)
I have taught sketching as a visiting lecturer at the British Higher School of Art and Design in Moscow and privately, and after moving to Singapore, for 8 years have led workshops internationally, focusing on depicting stories of places and communities via drawing on location.
Since becoming a full-time artist in 2022, I have continued my training through focused independent study. I spent a year studying a design-driven approach to painting with the watercolour artist Thomas M. Schaller and am currently a regular student at Studio Escalier in France, where she studies figure painting under Nicole Michelle Tully and Tobias M. Hall. I am also currently studying gravure at Atelier Empreinte in Luxembourg.
My work is regularly exhibited. In 2026, I received a Mention and the Sennelier Prize at Art Capital, Paris, where I exhibited with the Salon des Artistes Français. I regularly participate in plein air competitions in Ireland, where her work has been recognised by juries and peers.
Work
Since my background is rooted in architecture, restoration of architectural heritage, and narrative-driven interior design. These disciplines inform my understanding of space as something shaped not only by structure, but by human presence, memory, and use.
(Photo by Valentina Conchie)
My experience in interior design has been particularly formative, as I approach the notion of the “interior” not only as a physical space, but as something closely tied to internal processes - our attitudes, sensibilities, and the ways in which we shape and respond to our environment. This perspective continues to influence how I observe and interpret spaces, as well as how I understand the relationship between identity and place.
I have built my practice around working on location, using plein air painting as a way of observing and engaging directly with the environments and communities I depict. Rooted in the rigorous tradition of Russian academic training, the craft of painting has always been central to my work. Over time, however, the emphasis has shifted - from technical execution towards the narratives embedded within the scenes I observe.
My current artistic research explores how identity and meaning are constructed within a place through both presence and absence. Working directly from observation, I focus on both the visible and the implied - scenes of everyday life, as well as fragments, objects, and interiors that suggest human presence indirectly.
This includes direct portraits of individuals and groups, alongside what I refer to as “indirect portraits” - accidental still lifes formed by the objects people leave behind. These traces often reveal quieter, less mediated aspects of identity.
I develop many of these observations further in the studio, where the work moves between direct observation and interpretation, and where presence is often inferred rather than shown. My visual language is shaped by the technical discipline of Russian academic training, as well as years spent living and working in Southeast Asia, which influenced my approach to composition, colour, light, and atmosphere. An ongoing interest in structure and spatial relationships continues to inform my work.
My recent work reflects a growing focus on reduction and clarity, both in visual language and process. By limiting palette, materials, and detail, I aim to distil observed reality into its essential elements.
I am increasingly incorporating printmaking and drawing as expanded approaches to image-making. These processes introduce a slower, more analytical dimension, requiring translation of observed scenes into line, tone, and structure. Drawing on techniques related to my architectural training - such as black and white graphic work, ink, and stencilling - I rework and simplify images to concentrate their meaning.
Moving between immediacy and reflection, my practice continues to evolve towards a more distilled and focused way of seeing, where presence can be conveyed through minimal means.
Beyond painting, being a passionate treasure hunter, I have a deep appreciation for collecting objects, art, and furniture that reflects an eclectic historical aesthetic, overlayed with occasional humour where one least expects it. I'm drawn to tactile and visual textures and have an affinity for excellent craftsmanship and the humorous quirkiness that can be found in the world. Although ever since I started on a journey of simplifying my life, these collections are becoming rather visual, reflecting in my sketchbooks and paintings instead of appearing in my apartment.
photo by Jenya Barrat
As seen in:
Fun facts that are not supposed to be part of an artist's page, yet here they are
