ABOUT ALINA PANOVA
Alina Panova is a multidisciplinary artist, noted costume designer and producer.
As a visual artist whose career spans several fields, she has created some remarkable works in different mediums. As a designer Alina Panova began her career in the world of theatre, opera and ballet, and subsequently established herself as a successful costume designer for stage and screen, multidisciplinary artist and producer. Her close collaborators include the leading artists, directors and performers of our time. Among them are Michael Bennett, Barry Sonnenfeld, Trevor Nunn, Rudolph Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Kira Nijinsky, George Romero, Anjelica Huston, Denzel Washington, Ethan Coen.
Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, Panova studied at the Shevchenko National Shool of Fine Arts in Kyiv. After coming to the U.S. as a refugee she studied at Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia and at the Cooper Union in New York.
While still studying at the Cooper Union, Panova became a protege of the legendary Theoni Aldredge with whom she established a long-term professional collaboration. In the world of opera, Panova's mentor was a renowned Italian director/designer Beni Montresor. Panova's credits include Hollywood films, as well as Broadway and West End musicals, opera productions and ballets. She worked on West End musicals "Chess" and "Ziegfeld" as well as Broadway productions of "Gypsy" , "Blithe Spirit" and "Nick and Nora". Her designs have been seen in major opera houses around the world. Panova's portfolio extends to Oscar and Olympic ceremonies, Las Vegas and skating shows, and special theatrical/staged productions for the Kingdom of Morocco and the UAE.
Some of the Hollywood films Panova's costumes can been seen in are "Addams Family Values" (Academy Award Nomination), "The Naked Man" (written and produced by Ethan Coen), and "Bruiser", directed by cult horror director George Romero.
Alina Panova worked in a variety of artistic fields, winning acclaim as a costume and production designer, visual consultant and artistic director. She also contributed to books on design, including "Secrets of Skating" from Rizzoli Publishing.
Panova's first film as a producer, feature film "Orangelove" premiered in Cannes and won several awards at other international festivals. "Orangelove" is directed by a Ukrainian director Alan Badoev and was shot on location in Kyiv, Ukraine. It is a modern day tale of Romeo and Juliet that publically raised a curtain on AIDS epidemic among heterosexual young adults in Ukraine. "Orangelove" other underlying and prophetic theme is a dramatic breakup between Ukraine and Russia. It opened to a critical acclaim and Variety lauded the film saying "Ukraine is experiencing another revolution with AIDS drama "Orangelove".
As a visual artist Alina Panova is examining public and individual attitudes toward grief and preservation of memories. She is also interested in the aspects of the fragile and fading objects in a three dimensional concept collages and installations, accompanied by music, sound effects and video.
Alina Panova's art works have been exhibited internationally and are included in private and public collections.
*Design CV available upon request
*Portfolio viewing and galleries access is available upon request