Sophia Stef Gallery is excited to present MARA, the first solo exhibition by seventeen-year-old painter Karina Stakh.

Born and raised in Minsk, Belarus, Karina left for Millfield School in England in 2020 before moving to the United States two years later. She is currently a senior at the Lawrenceville School and has spent the past four years studying classical fine art at the Princeton Academy of Art. She also recently interned at Ten One Gallery here in Lambertville.

In MARA, Karina brings together her background, childhood memories, and interest in Slavic folklore through a series of oil paintings centered around the strange space between waking and sleep.

In Slavic folklore, a mara is a spirit said to visit sleepers at night, filling the darkness with images. In Belarusian, the same word means “dream.” Karina uses this dual meaning as the starting point for the exhibition, returning to figures and stories she remembers from childhood: the fern flower of Kupala Night, the vodyanoy waiting beneath the water, and the rusalki from her grandmother’s book of folktales.

Having left Belarus at eleven, Karina paints these memories not as exact recollections, but as they return to her now, altered by time, distance, dreams, and imagination.

MARA marks Karina’s first solo exhibition and brings this deeply personal series together at Sophia Stef Gallery for five days only.

Join us for the opening reception on Saturday, September 19 from 2–4 PM.

28 N Union Street, Third Floor of The People’s Store, Lambertville, NJ