Working where traditional and new media meet: exploring the visual aesthetics of the digital and the material merging

I was born and studied in Yekaterinburg. I started at an art studio, then art school, then the Shadr Art College and the Ural State Academy of Architecture and Arts. Right after graduating I landed in the advertising industry and spent more than 15 years in it: glossy magazines, advertising and event agencies.

Then came professional burnout and a sharp desire to go back to hands-on skills. I left the agency and started painting. Several years of painful searching within academic painting led to my first series of works, “Soul Talk”.

But by that point I realized I needed to study. I really wanted to understand contemporary art specifically, rather than getting stuck in academicism. I wanted to be lighter, to be in the know, to adapt to a new world and enter the art scene. So I enrolled in the contemporary art faculty at Sreda Obucheniya, on Arseniy Zhilyaev’s course. After that came a short course at the Artlife school, “Monetizing Your Practice”, and most recently OnStudy’s “I Want Into the Art World”.

What subject and mediums do you work with?

I work with the search for balance and inner support in the turbulence of the contemporary world. The medium grew out of the idea. The series is called “Antifragile” and came about after I read Nassim Taleb’s book “Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder”.

In that book the author works a lot with mythology — he uses the image of the Hydra, for instance, as a symbol of antifragility. Cut off one of the Hydra’s heads and two grow back in its place. Since the Hydra’s habitat is water, I took that element as my foundation and started looking for mediums that could convey its properties. That’s how glass, epoxy resin and digital printing on Dibond came in.

Was it hard to find your subject?

How was the experience of taking part in the Art Russia fair? (Now that some time has passed)

First, it was my first exhibition; second, the installation process was extremely difficult; third, spending days on site with daily practice at speaking about the work is worth a great deal. The audience is very mixed — each person needs their own language, their own way of receiving information. It was a unique chance to talk about my art. And I also collected a few contacts that proved useful later on.

After the fair you sold works for a substantial sum — what does an artist feel after a big sale?

Relief, first of all, because I had covered the cost of materials, the booth and a year’s studio rent where I’d worked on the project. And also joy that the works were bought by a woman who is an interior designer, a professional and a collector of contemporary art. That mattered to me.

What was the hardest thing about contemporary art up to this point? Based on your experience, what should an artist be ready for at the start?

The hardest part was working out how everything is arranged in the world of contemporary art. What matters in it, and how it all works, from idea to realization. My long experience in advertising made that easier.

What is your mission as an artist and as a person? Do the two coincide?

They do. The way I feel it, I’m ready to share my life experience with the world — not to lecture or impose, but to carry my ideas to people who respond to my art through beauty and meaning.

If you had to put it in a single line, what would you want to tell the viewer through your art?

“Being happy and strong isn’t a lottery — it’s a conscious choice and every person’s own responsibility.”

What are your next plans as an artist?

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