Eleanor Harwood Gallery is pleased to present Memory Cradle, a two-person exhibition featuring works by Kate Tova and Anastasia Tumanova. Please join us for a reception for the artists on June 6th, 5-7 pm. The Exhibit will be on view from May 9th to July 18th, 2026.
Drawing from Russian and Ukrainian folk traditions, both artists engage ornament, storytelling, and organic form as vessels for emotional and cultural memory. For Kate Tova, the works in Memory Cradle are also informed by the ongoing war in Ukraine, channeling themes of displacement, resilience, mourning, and survival. Though distinct in material and approach, Tova and Tumanova each create immersive visual languages rooted in reverence for nature. Their works carry traces of traditional legacies while reimagining them through contemporary sensibilities.
Tova’s multidisciplinary practice spans painting, sculpture, and site-responsive works. Using vibrant color, tactile surfaces, and at times plant material gathered directly from her garden, she investigates the relationship between psychological interiority and the natural environment. Wildflowers recur throughout her work as symbols of healing, renewal, and survival.
Anastasia Tumanova is a Russian-American ceramic artist currently working in Berkeley, California. She captures the spirit of nature by translating its shapes, patterns, textures, and colors into abstract, dimensional artworks and site specific installations that venerate nature’s beauty and bring the outdoors inside. Her work is inspired by the flora and natural surroundings of her home in California, as well as traditional Russian craft and folk art. Her background in graphic design informs her meticulous and illustrative handling of clay, resulting in sculptures that feel simultaneously delicate, architectural, and alive.
Together, the artists construct a shared space where folklore, ecology, and personal history intertwine. Memory Cradle considers how cultural memory is carried forward through material, pattern, ritual, and the handmade object, offering a meditation on preservation, transformation, and belonging.
Artist Bios:
Kate Tova
b. 1995, Russia; lives and works in Monterey & Los Angeles, CA, US
Kate Tova is a Russian-Ukrainian artist born in Russia, currently living and working in California, USA. Tova is a multidisciplinary visual artist whose practice spans mixed media painting, sculpture, and site-responsive work. Rooted in a deep engagement with the natural world, her work explores psychological states, healing, and human connection through organic materials, vibrant color, and tactile process. Tova has exhibited at the Oceanside Museum of Art and the Monterey Museum of Art, among other institutions, and completed an artist residency at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Her work has appeared on the covers of San Francisco Magazine and ArtScene Magazine.
Anastasia Tumanova
b.1986, Moscow, Russia; lives and works in Berkeley, CA, US
Anastasia Tumanova is a Russian-American ceramic artist based in Berkeley, California. Inspired by California flora and traditional Russian folk art, she creates sculptural ceramic works and installations that translate natural textures, patterns, and growth forms into intricate abstract compositions. Tumanova has exhibited at Hashimoto Contemporary, Local Language Art Gallery, and Heron Arts, among others. Past clients include San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Google, and Walt Disney World. She received her B.A. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2009.
About Eleanor Harwood Gallery
Eleanor Harwood Gallery opened September 2006 in the Mission District and is now located in San Francisco’s premier gallery complex, the Minnesota Street Project. The gallery specializes in work with complex craft and concept, exhibiting painting, drawing, sculpture, textiles and photography by emerging to mid-career artists. The roster includes artists that are represented in major American, European and Asian collections. The gallery actively promotes and encourages career growth for represented artists.
Location
1275 Minnesota Street, Suite 105, San Francisco, CA 94107
Hours
Tuesday-Saturday 11am – 5:00pm and by appointment
Contact
(p) 415.867.7770
(e) eleanor@eleanorharwood.com
Check gallery website for hours and additional info
