This Artist’s Paintings are Out of This World

I think it’s weird calling an artist who’s twice my age “up and coming”, but looking at @prakorin’s Instagram following it seems like he’s on the “upwards” part of the art roller-coaster, and not quite at the peak yet.

Or so it would seem! Turns out, just because an artist doesn’t have millions of followers on Instagram doesn’t mean they aren’t at their peak locally!

So, as we learn about him, let’s look at his oil paintings. They’re out of this world.

1. Where is he from?

The artist’s full name is Oleg Prakorina. He’s from Belarus and lives in a small town outside of Minsk. He’s actually made quite a name for himself in his local community. Even though his Instagram account is dedicated to his oil paintings, he’s actually an all-around artist and handyman!

2. Oil on Canvas

Oleg Prakorina has been making art for several decades now, but it seems like he has only just now fully embraced the classic combination of oil on canvas. He did a lot of watercolors before. His paintings are very original, but he also doesn’t shy away from showing his influences. From the impressionist brushstrokes of Monet to the stark, edgy, geometrical portraits that call back to the paintings of Picasso — it seems like Oleg is exploring all the aspects of art.

3. Woodworking

Prakorina’s first artistic output came in the form of woodworking. He created wood sculptures, as well as furniture and utensils. As a matter of fact, he’s credited for creating 54 spoons for a local dance/music ensemble in his region of Belarus. Yeah, that’s right — Oleg spent several months crafting spoons that a band could play on stage. That’s what I call “giving back to the local community”.

4. House of Trash

A few years ago (in 2017, to be exact), Oleg Prakorina made the headlines of various news outlets with his biggest (in terms of scale) accomplishment to date. He built an entire house out of trash. This news spread across Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, and eventually even some US-based news outlets. The house is fully functional, but I’m not sure I would want to live in it.