Larissa ABTOVA

Larissa is an artist based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Born in Riga, USSR, young Larissa’s love for drawing was crystal clear, having spent much of her childhood sketching away since her parents gave her pencils and drawing paper. Larissa studied at the St Petersburg academy of art and graduated in 1987. ​In 1991, armed with decades of experience under her belt, Larissa relocated to Holland.
"My theme ''From World with Love'' is a continuation of my earlier series called ''From Russia with Love'' that was sold out at my personal exhibition in New Zealand, back in 2008. The series is not only showing Russian faces this time, but unites different nationalities and cultural backgrounds into one series.
The idea to make "From world with love" started from my desire for traveling around the world, meeting new interesting people from other countries led to the idea to create a series of paintings with a group of five people, mainly women and show the whole world that we, having different characters, different habits and a different culture, are essentially all the same because we all want one thing - to be happy and loved. Only love for humanity can radiate the whole range of colors and comfort in our hearts.
“As always, I seek to incorporate one’s soul and emotions into each portrait through their eyes”."