Jekaterina Ribakova

Biography

Jekaterina Ribakova was born in 1971 in Riga, Latvia. She is a painter, graphic artist, and interior designer. She received her professional education at an art school in Riga and, in 1994, graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The artist has been participating in exhibitions since 1992, has organised seven solo exhibitions, and has taken part in 14 group exhibitions, including international projects in France and Sweden. She has exhibited her work on multiple occasions at the international watercolour exhibition Fabriano in Acquarello in Fabriano, Italy. Her works are held in private collections in Latvia, Germany, Israel, Romania, Russia, and the USA.

Artistic Style

The artist’s creative style is characterised by classical media, refined tonality, and a sensitive feeling for material. In watercolour, she works using the glazing technique, applying colour in multiple near-transparent layers that create nuanced depth, luminous vibration, and rich chromatic relationships. Her works are defined not only by precision of form, but also by atmosphere and the impression of a fleeting moment, heightened by the lightness and transparency of watercolour. In her graphic ink drawings, Ribakova employs a refined rhythm of line and contrasts of black-and-white with colour, producing imagery that is at once decoratively expressive and subtly nuanced. The visual richness of her works is further enhanced by paper relief, as well as silver and gold details that lend the compositions a distinctive materiality and ornamental quality. Flowers serve as the central motif in the artist’s work. Ribakova portrays them both as a symbol of beauty and admiration for nature, and as a figurative message that carries personal meaning and feeling, conveyed through the special language of flowers.

Interesting Facts

Ribakova created the illustrations for Brīnumvardulēns (transl. The Magical Little Frog, 2025), a children’s fairy-tale book by the popular radio journalist Ilona Jahimoviča, which takes the reader on an enchanting journey where the romance of Vecgulbene Manor intertwines with magical stories.