Artist

Raya Bodnarchuk

born New York City 1947-died Rockville, MD 2021
Media - portrait_image_113817.jpg - 89938
Courtesy of the artist
Born
New York, New York, United States
Died
Rockville, Maryland, United States
Active in
  • Glen Echo, Maryland, United States
Biography

The daughter of two artists, Raya Bodnarchuk began sculpting animals from clay at the age of two. The artist states that she does not draw inspiration from real animals but that each piece she makes serves as the creative source for the next. Bodnarchuk bases her sculptures on shapes she finds in the world around her, but she reduces them to their most essential form. By simplifying the pointed, bushy tail of a fox, for example, to a clean, half-moon shape, she creates a sculpture that appears almost abstract. Bodnarchuk uses a chainsaw to carve from wood because she believes that the shapes she wants can be made much more quickly with a chainsaw than with a chisel.

Works by this artist (1036 items)

William H. Johnson, Portrait of a Man, ca. 1935-1938, oil on burlap, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.814
Portrait of a Man
Dateca. 1935-1938
oil on burlap
On view
William H. Johnson, Tehran Conference, ca. 1945, oil on plywood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.647
Tehran Conference
Dateca. 1945
oil on plywood
On view
William H. Johnson, Jim, 1930, oil on canvas, mounted on masonite, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.748
Jim
Date1930
oil on canvas, mounted on masonite
On view
William H. Johnson, Ferry Boat Trip, ca. 1943-1944, oil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.1011
Ferry Boat Trip
Dateca. 1943-1944
oil on paperboard
On view