Darya Mead
La Chica relaxes in her studio.
Paintings by Katheen Strukoff (aka “La Chica”) feature bold desert themes and color; she has been a desert person most of her life. She describes her work as “a loose, chunky, modern impressionism.” Collectors and admirers say the pieces are multisensory; they conjure smells and sounds and bring back memories. Strukoff says people have strong feelings about Palm Springs, and she has been told her work evokes a sense of nostalgia.
When I first visited her studio, I wasn’t sure I was in the right place – a nondescript building on South Palm Canyon Drive. The colorful hallway set the tone and the minute I opened the door to her studio, I knew La Chica was a kindred spirit. An animated woman, her outfit alone — an autumnal-colored geometric shift dress and a complementary straw hat — made her as visually compelling as her work.
Motel signs, trains, pools, palm trees, cacti, desert landscapes, and modern architecture are Strukoff’s subjects. She uses thick, chunky paint and energetic brushstrokes and enjoys working en plein air, hence the moniker “the Palm Springs Pop-up Painter.” She also uses techniques such as alla prima (wet-on-wet) and palette knife with brush to achieve an abstract expressionist style. Under some of the paintings on the wall of her studio, quotes about her work say what I felt as I enjoyed the eye candy of her visceral style — “It’s good enough to eat, kind of like if Wayne Thiebaud painted Palm Springs.” and "If Edward Hopper and David Hockney had a baby, it would be you!"
Strukoff was born in New Mexico and spent time in Texas as a youth, so she feels tied to the desert in deep ways. People often say to her, “Isn't the desert just brown?” Her work emphatically says “no.” It is bright, colorful — at times moody — but more often uplifting and celebratory. She feels there is a lighter, brighter feeling in Palm Springs that suits her and her creative work.
Strukoff’s La Chica persona — and her logo — involves a cartoon version of herself riding a Vespa scooter in a chic 1950s get-up and heels with a bag of art supplies in tow. Her youthful exuberance and colorful character seep into every aspect of her life.
Though Strukoff went to art school, she also got a business degree. “If you really love art, get a practical degree, as well,” she says. She worked as a business consultant for years and painted prolifically on the side. Some of her biggest influences include Vincent van Gogh, Wolf Kahn, Camille Przewodek, Wayne Thiebaud, Daniil Volkov, and Henry Hensche. La Chica also lived in Vegas and a foray to Baltimore rocked her world and palette. The East Coast and New England “was a hard change in color scheme,” she says.
Strukoff is living her best artistic life now at the age of 68, married to a musician. The couple lived in Orange County but made the move to the desert a few years ago. She loves the reinvention of “surviving in the desert.” She is surrounded by like-minded artists. When we met, she was on the brink of retiring from her day job and ready to devote herself to painting full-time.
During the COVID pandemic, Strukoff wanted to help struggling local businesses. She created a series of pro bono shop portraits and gave them to proprietors to help bolster their businesses and spirits. Her repertoire also includes commissions to paint houses. Her schedule is full. She participated in the Modernism Show recently, offering a collection called "French Impressionism Meets Slim Aarons." Open Studio tours in March were a big hit and Strukoff — ever the community cheerleader — also launched an artist group called the South Canyon Palm Art Collective. The group hosts a soirée on the fourth Sunday of each month. “We are a vibrant part of the revitalization of the South Palm Canyon area,” she says. La Chica’s two-person show at the Old Town Artisan Studios called "California Perspectives" opens on April 6. Strukoff will also be a featured artist in a show curated by Gary Wexler and held at his design studio in the Backstreet Art location on April 28. Her art and community work supports a number of local nonprofits. She is embarking on a musician series, as her husband, Rudy Strukoff, is a blues musician. Make time to check out her work online or in person and you won’t be disappointed. She is an effervescent and colorful personality and her art projects convey that.
