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Tribambuka (aka Anastasia Beltyukova) is a London based multidisciplinary artist, award-winning illustrator and animation director working predominantly in painting, printmaking and large-scale installations. Her practice is mainly concerned with the themes of shifting identity, home and belonging with a strong participatory element and often involving audience interaction in the creation of the work. As a British artist with Russian roots, she takes a critical approach to the complexities of her heritage through a contemporary lens of feminist thought and mythological thinking. The striking, figurative visual language in her paintings is an amalgamation of her background in graphic design, the artistic elements found in Russian Avant-garde, French Analytical Cubism and Fauvism, as well influenced by the revolutionary spirit of swinging sixties.

The artist was formally trained in the traditions of the Russian Analytical school of painting at the St. Petersburg State Academy of Art and Design, which opposes the canon of academic education and takes its roots from artists like Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Pavel Filonov and Natalia Goncharova. She inherited the structural approach to composition and shapes, reversed perspective and bold colour combinations. The influence of Fauvism, Expressionism and sixties counterculture add an element of disorder, emphasising the interplay between chaos and structure that is a key theme in her work. Her background in illustration adds a fresh, contemporary edge, as well as defines the narrative approach and symbolism behind her compositions. These visual attributes become apparent in her She / Her / Hers (2022) painting series, depicting portraits of women in various contorted, geometrical configurations using a limited palette of bold colours. In her painting series Right to Rage (2022), the artist adopts a similarly iconic compositional style and colourful palette in her portraits of female characters from across various mythological narratives as a powerful emancipatory statement. Through her most recent solo project, the large-scale immersive exhibition ‘Nowhere to Go but Anywhere’ at the Migration Museum in London (2024), the artist further expands on her foundational interest in exploring the concept of ‘home’, pushing her experimentation with a variety of different mediums including video, sound, audience participation and mixed media installations influenced by the likes of William Kentridge and Robert Rauschenberg. The ambitious exhibition is focused mainly on the artist’s sketchbooks that have been an integral part of her practice, presenting them in a variety of different creative ways in order to foreground the concept of a constantly evolving ‘process’ instead of a finite product.

Alongside prestigious commissions by international brands such as CNN, NBC, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and the Migration Museum, Tribambuka’s works have been exhibited and collected internationally.

Artist Statement

Having been born in a city and a country that don’t exist anymore (Leningrad and USSR), and having wandered around a bit and growing roots in the new soil now I found myself being concerned with the complexities of identity, belonging and home. At first it was quite innocent exploration of what Home is, but since the pandemic the theme has been turning darker and darker each year, revealing its shadow sides - first, home becoming a confinement, then - falling apart altogether. Themes of losing home, broken homes, damaged roots, displacement and losing ground led me to questioning identity and belonging even more - who am I when my world has fallen apart? 

I like using traditional techniques, oil on canvas, printmaking, charcoal and carbon pencil on paper, but I experiment with digital tools a lot too and even work with moving image. I’m finding it hard to lock myself into one creative field, and each project I take on makes me branch out into new spheres. I’m drawn to collaborative multimedia projects as well, working together with musicians and performers, as well as involving audience. I found that interacting with the audience and asking questions is the most exciting way for me to create work, and their responses stimulate the next steps in my creative process. 

Selected Exhibitions

SOLO SHOWS

SELECTED GROUP SHOWS

  • In Search of Peace and Love amongst
    the Flowers     / OXO Tower Gallery / 2023
  • Universal Expressions / Felstead Art / London Festival of Architechture, London, 2023
  • Tart Factory / Tart gallery, London, 2023
  • International Women’s Month
    Adidas x Creatove Debuts, Cluster,
    London, UK, 2022
  • SHE/HER/HERS
    Oakland Gallery, New Brighton, UK, 2022
  • Illustrators 62 / Society of Illustrators
    Museum of Illustration, New York, USA, 2019
  • 100 Minutes of Film and Animation
    CityLit Arts, London, UK, 2019
  • Nothing Is Square, Cultivate Gallery,
    London, UK, 2019
  • Cluster Illustration
    Truman Brewery, London, UK, 2019
  • Who Are We / Hackney Wicked Festival,
    Trampery, London, UK, 2019
  • Pick Me Up
    Somerset House, London, UK, 2013
  • The Reality of Art London Festival
    Courtyard Theatre, London, UK, 2012
  • Making Tracks
    ONCA Gallery, Brighton, UK, 2013
  • East London Mornings
    Co-curation, Mouse and De Lotz,
    London, UK, 2012
  • HOMO BONUS
    Curation / St. Petersburg State University,
    St. Petersburg, Russia, 2007
  • Indian Dreams
    Photography, St. Petersburg, Russia, 2006
  • Path of Compassion
    Curation, Photography
    General Consulate of India,
    St. Petersburg, Russia, 2005
  • Street Graphics, India
    Photography, Curation. Supported by General Consulate of India and St. Petersburg Designers’ Union, St. Petersburg, Russia, 2004
  • Best Degree Shows, St. Petersburg Designers’ Union, St. Petersburg, Russia, 2000
  • St. Petersburg Depressionism
    St. Petersburg, Russia, 1999
  • International Poster Biennale,
    Warsaw, Poland, 1997

Public Talks and Podcasts

  • How to Use What You Feel to Make Art / Public talk, The Mixer x AOI, Disabled Illustrators Meet Up with Tribambuka, 2023
  • Fierce Women: The Power of Female Rage at Work and Beyond / Panel Discussion
    Tribambuka x SheSays London x Cluster Contemporary / OXO Tower Wharf, London 2022
  • Holding Home In Our Hands
    Symposium and social event around the meaning and impact of home in a globalised world. Central Saint Martins x Foundling Museum / London, UK, 2022
  • Finding Home
    Seven of Clubs, Pushkin House,
    London, UK / 2022
  • Hotline Design Podcast / 2021
  • London International Animation Festival Q&A
    Hackney Picturehouse, London, UK / 2021
  • Finding Your Voice
    Cluster Illustration, London, UK / 2021
  • Finding Your Voice
    Kyoorios Designyatra Conference
    Mumbai, India / 2020
  • KinoLondon Q&A
    London, UK / 2020
  • Creativity + Opportunity
    Panel discussion, British Library,
    Hill+Knowlton conference / 2019
  • Round Table Discussions
    on developing partnership of creative industries between St. Petersburg and London.
    OXO Tower, London UK / 2014
  • Indian Street Graphics in Context of Branding and Cultural Values, public talk, part of the series of lectures by stars of graphic design “VIJU”.
    ETAGI, St. Petersburg, Russia / 2009
  • Design and Visual Culture in Russia
    Round Table, Museum of city sculpture,
    St. Petersburg, Russia / 2009
  • Will Design Save Russia?
    Round Table, Quo Vadis, St. Petersburg, Russia / 2003

Awards and Recognitions

Over 30 awards for illustration and animation, including 3 Creativepool Bronze Awards, Communication Arts Illustration Competition and Society of Illustrators Competition, Top 25 Creative Industry Influencer Creativepool, Gold Lion Award at the Barcelona International Film Festival, and many more - request CV to see the full list. 

Publications

Residencies

Casa Tagumerche, La Gomera, Span, 2021

All artworks ©Tribambuka 2024