Victoria Shasha was born in Singapore to a family of Sephardi Jews who moved there at the beginning of the twentieth century.

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At a young age, Victoria was inspired by her mother’s profession as an elite designer and dressmaker.  (Her mother’s  clientele included the King of Brunei.)  Very quickly, Victoria discovered that she too had a natural flair for color and design.  Later, when she began to concentrate on painting, Victoria found a sense of joy and personal fulfillment by focusing her art on subjects who likewise were spiritually fulfilled by their professions, their callings, whether they be religious figures, musicians, or craftsmen.

 

Victoria’s initial professional training took place at Nanyung University in Singapore, where she focused on fashion design.  Later, when she married in 1987, Victoria and her husband moved to London, where she studied art at the Heatherly School of Art.  In London, she simultaneously continued wit her fashion design career, marketing her mother’s couture dresses, as well as her own design in fashion fairs and in design districts around the world. 

 

During her early years as a fashion designer, Victoria fell in love with fabrics, drawn to their intricate textures and colours. This passion for textiles has influenced her paintings, with works that highlight garments so detailed and refined that the viewer can almost feel the textures of her subjects' attire. 

 

When Victoria pivoted from fashion design to painting as her primary focus, she began to  study with the renowned, master classical artist, Raphael Nouril, working under Nouril’s mentorship for a quarter of a century.  Victoria finds inspiration from the classical works of Rembrandt, VanDyke, Vermeer, Degas, Monet and Klimt. Her style of painting is often described as leaning toward the classical, following in the footsteps of the old masters. 

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Victoria subjects include scenic landscapes, studies of women, children at play and individuals in spiritual contexts.  She paints bustling market scenes, festivities, and celebrations of religious life.  Her work highlights relationships: between people who bond to form community, between people and the spiritual texts to which they devote themselves and between those who gather to celebrate religious events. 

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Many of Victoria’s paintings bring the viewer back in time, tapping into the aesthetic of the previous ages. Her works are a merger of the old and new,  history injected into present day themes.  Recently, Victoria has ventured on a new series of paintings, using gold leaf , adding another dimension to her subjects.

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Victoria has exhibited in London, Paris, New York, Jerusalem and Singapore in galleries that include: the Lucien Krief gallery in Jerusalem, Opera gallery in Miami, Paris and Singapore, Levene Galley in New York.  She has also exhibited in the  Singapore Jewish Museum and the Matt Art Auction House, as well as being featured in  many private exhibitions in London and abroad.  In addition to her art, Victoria is proud of the very spiritual and fulfilling time she spends as a wife, mother and grandmother.

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