About

Short Bio

Lola Panco is a contemporary figurative oil painter based in Fenwick Island, Delaware. Her work is driven by the desire to explore the complex relationships between personal identity and the larger social environment. Panco’s paintings represent her personal values, beliefs, and vulnerabilities as she uses self-portrait as a means of self-examination. While Panco received classical training at the Academy of Fine Arts in Minsk, Belarus she has recently been accepted into the New York Academy of Arts MFA program and received the Academy Merit Scholarship. Panco’s recent solo exhibitions include “ I Smile Back” at Ocean City, Maryland Art Center and “Found In Translation” at Salisbury University, Salisbury, Maryland. Panco’s work has won numerous awards and has been published in the Washington Post, Metropolitan Magazine, and Laridae Research Journal. Her paintings and sculptures are held in the permanent collection of Salisbury University. Her work has also been privately collected throughout the United States over the years.

Statement

My work is rooted in life-changing experiences of overcoming the autocratic rule of the Soviet Union and later immigrating to the diverse society of the United States. By marrying figuration and abstraction I explore the complex relationship between an individual and society at large in the context of globalization. Individuality, power, and vulnerability of the figure are portrayed in its psychological space, where objects, forms, and feelings are mixed and abstracted. Through engagement with relevant social problems like Identity Politics and an aspiration to push formal and conceptual boundaries my practice contributes to the creative growth of the contemporary art community.