What appear to be breaks of color in Dariya Afanaseva’s paintings cultivate curiosity in the works.  In some instances, these lapses in color are quite fascinatingly deliberate sections in which the artist purposefully does not add a layer of paint over the foundation of mixed media.  These non-painted surfaces take unique shapes like ovals or butterflies.  In other instances, the lack of color is actually a switch to a contrasting color.  Rusty orange and sea-foam stripes interrupt gregarious planks of black, or violet and sea foam seem to be scraped at until precarious white lines emerge.  It’s likely, however, the artist added these colors rather than subtracted other colors from the canvas.  Layers therefore become pertinent to Afanaseva’s methodology and style.

Although shapes do unfold, most of her works are expressionistic.  The plant and animal life discovered within Dariya Afanaseva’s paintings, though figurative, are more symbolic of growth, change, and beauty.  Other works are more ambiguous in their significance, and thus it is color and brushstroke that indicate their mood