You describe your work as “irreality”. What does the concept mean to you, and how do you translate it into your visual storytelling?
For me, irreality is a means to revealing hidden aspects of the human psyche. Reality offers understandable tools and functions, while irreality has entirely different rules, or none at all. Through it, I convey what I don’t want to say directly. Being an uncommunicative person, I use my work as a way to communicate with the world. I often imagine how great it would be to communicate with people only through my pictures. Irreality is a code through which I encrypt my experiences for those who are capable and interested in understanding them. It pleases me when someone deciphers this code, and we achieve a soulful connection without knowing each other.
There’s a strong duality in your work of coexisting beauty and sadness. How do you balance these emotions in your process?
I appreciate that you see sadness and beauty as opposite concepts. I am against romanticizing negative emotions. Sadness, sorrow, and nostalgia are destructive feelings that signal that something is wrong and needs to change. There was a period when I painted only pain and hated those paintings and myself as an artist. I created them out of loneliness and despair, hoping to ease my state and share it with the viewer. But logically, this only intensified my painful feelings. Only after deciding to become a happier person did I find myself as an artist who I liked. Thus, the coexistence of beauty and sadness is about happiness despite bitterness and sorrow. A funny analogy: sadness is asphalt, happiness is a flower, a flower that has grown through asphalt is the disarming beauty of life’s indomitability.
You mention that your work does not engage with current events because you want to offer people an emotional refuge. Do you see art as a form of escapism, healing, or both?
Undoubtedly, art can and should be viewed in various contexts. It is cultural heritage from the perspective of anthropology, it is the chronicle of times from the perspective of history, and it is the psychological portrait of the artist/artistic period from the perspective of psychology. However, from the present point of view, from the moment of direct creation, free creativity (which, by the way, began to emerge only in the Quattrocento era when painting started gaining independence from the church) is undoubtedly about healing and positive escapism. I acknowledge and respect all the above-mentioned contexts of art, but I exist, flourish, and evolve only in the art that can heal.
Your themes blend dream-like imagery with real observations. What does your creative process look like? Do you sketch ideas first, or do you let them evolve naturally as you work?
Each of my works begins with a specific idea. Creating ideas is a separate part of my creative process. Ideas are born both spontaneously and through brainstorming. That’s why they are everywhere: in my notes, photo gallery (I often get inspired by things I see randomly on the street, in the forest, in everyday life), voice recorder, book margins, computer, and my diary. Literally, in every drawer in my house, you can find a repository of my ideas. In total, there are several hundred of them, and it makes me sad to think that I will never be able to realize them all. So, at the very least, I have no time for improvisation, and I’m not a big fan of such an artistic approach, because, for me, meaning is paramount, and it is something that is currently in short supply.
You have an interest in biology, philosophy, and music. How do these fields influence the way you build the visual language of your art?
Interest in philosophy is reflected in my worldview and approach to thinking; it is the foundation and core of my creativity. Biology (and other sciences) is my source of inspiration. They say there is no magic, but then what, if not magic, is the birth of life, the birth of the universe, and the mathematical laws that govern all this? This is pure magic. The more you learn, the more questions arise. The world is absolutely unknowable, incredibly multidimensional, and that is the greatest gift. We are on an endless journey that cannot get boring. Biology is the most beautiful of all sciences because it offers a vast array of forms, textures, and colors. I adore the world of plants, animals, and insects – this is present in each of my works. Music is an inexplicable bonus in our lives. I started publishing my paintings to have a reason to share music. The painting merely supported the sound. Nothing conveys a state as well as music, nothing is perceived as clearly as music. The beauty of music is always evident! It always touches the soul, it is the universal language of interaction, and for me, it is sacred. Visual forms are a less expressive sibling of music. In my heart, I am a musician trapped in the body of an artist. 🙂
You mention that Van Gogh, Kuindzhi, Matisse, and Bosch are some of your favorite artists. What is it about their work that resonates with you the most?
Many works by these artists immerse me in the painting. This experience cannot be logically explained; it is entirely in the realm of feelings. That is the magic. You don’t understand why it happens; you don’t control it. When I first saw “Moonlit Night on the Dnieper” by Kuindzhi in the Tretyakov Gallery, I couldn’t hold back my tears. The same thing happened in front of the paintings by Van Gogh and Matisse. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen Bosch’s works in person yet, so my perception of his art is more rational. He is a genius of allegories and hidden meanings.
If you could immerse yourself in any painting from the past, which one would it be and why?
It’s hard to choose just one painting. Can I pick two? They are “Birch Grove” by Kuindzhi and “The Artist’s Studio” by Matisse. For some reason, these paintings make me feel like a joyful, pure, and innocent child who has their whole life ahead of them and has yet to realize their mortality. In childhood, it seems we are immortal, that death does not exist. And in front of these paintings, I can once again remember that feeling of boundless joy and immortality.
If you had unlimited time and resources, what kind of project or artwork would you love to create?
I adore animated films. Hayao Miyazaki is my only idol. If I could, I would create an animated universe that immerses and heals, just like Miyazaki’s work. For many years, I dreamed of being an animator. 2D animation is a monumental effort, beyond the capability of one person who needs to work, study, spend time with family, and not self-destruct on the altar of their dreams. I found a compromise and am currently a student at a 3D school. I plan to incorporate 3D graphics into my work, stylizing it to look like 2D. This way, I can move towards creating longer animations.
