I grew up in Siberia during the political crisis when the Soviet Union was under reconstruction economically and politically as well as socially, with the announcement of Perestroika. This changed the political landscape of the Soviet Union, which led to a major economic fiasco and a fatal division between the Soviets themselves. It was a really tough time. The country was in ruin, lots of theft, and there was no protection in the 1990’s. It was hard for my mother raising three kids alone.
Creativity was my saving grace, my little world of peace. At my parents’ house we had lots of books about culture and art, all ancient artists with colourful reproductions of works by Michelangelo and Da Vinci, as well as impressionists Monet and Cezanne. There were books about ethnic traditional jewellery of different tribes and ethnicities of Soviet Union Republics with colourful pictures of their headpieces and crowns. As I was helping my mom look after my toddler brother and sister, I often skimmed through these books.
“I will forever associate the ocean with freedom and the feeling that everything is possible.”
My parents loved hiking and climbing mountains and we had a big collection of natural minerals at home and I used to play with them: 1-kilogram rock of mystic quartz, fist sized tiger-eye, tiny Labradorites, turquoise and others. Art became a therapy for me. It was the one thing that I could do alone. It was the one thing that was for me, without having anyone want something of me.
I grew up in a land full of fields and forests and every school summer holiday we would spend with my grandmother, who lived in a tiny town by the sea south of Russia. My grandmother and my mother were the most influential people in my life, the driving forces; my mom always believed in me and taught me that anything can be achieved with determination. My grandmother allowed me to do everything that was forbidden back in Siberia. She inspired me to try so many new things. Under her supervision I learned to create textile wall hangings, macramé, knit and sew, build a house for my dolls out of broken furniture with hammer and nails, climb trees, swim at the nearest beach, collect seashells and create different animals with them and plasticine. It was three months of freedom and experiments of creativity and every single day we went to the beach. My parents had different rules than my grandmother and when this rule paradigm switches off, you realize that rules can be changed. Spending time with my grandmother by the ocean shifted my life’s course. The sea has inspired my art and I’ve dreamed of living by the ocean since I was a child.
“Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.”
— Napoleon hill
I travel all around the world trying to portray the different oceans in my art under the slogan ‘Four Oceans in Seashells, Resin and Fire.’ I try to capture the emotions evoked in different places using fire and liquid glass (epoxy Resin) together with seashells, mother of pearl, gemstones, Swarovski crystals and items that I pick up along the way from each location. I meditate and do my early morning yoga sessions on the beach to get the feeling of the ocean–is it relaxing and peaceful or crushing and wild?
I often use aerial drone photography as research and my source of inspiration for the perspective and colours. The view rising above the coastline gives the feeling of flight, ascending towards the sky yet all the earth is beneath you.
I hand paint a couple of watercolor sketches (as I think watercolor pigments behave similar to pigmented Resin when applied “wet on wet”). I create combinations of gemstones, seashells and mother of pearl. Usually I create several compositions to figure out which one works better. It may take months to source particular gemstones or seashells that I need. All stones are attached one by one–it’s a very tedious job. Then I create a tiny Resin painting to get the shades and make sure I’m happy with the composition. When I am satisfied with the tiny Resin prototypes I create the big artwork, up to two metres long.
I pour liquid medium onto a board or canvas and then manipulate it with gravity and different sticks. I paint with music on, as it lends a certain energy and character to my movements–movement of my hand with a plastic cup in it pouring translucent liquid onto the horizontal surface. This is a meditation, I do not feel time; five or six hours can disappear in a split second.
All the lines and shapes keep moving towards gravity for hours after I make my pour. To create one layer, you must prepare for a long time, be very focused and ready. You have 30 minutes to pour the colours, after that you shouldn’t touch it. It still continues to move on the board and you have to monitor it to make sure it hasn’t fallen to the floor. The painting continues to change during the next three to eight hours, and after two days, it will set and the next layer can be added. This is a very anxious time. It is translucent and you can see one layer through another. This creates depth and very organic shapes. What I am trying to do is make it appear less man-made and more natural.
I create Art Prints out of my original works. After I photograph a piece in my studio, I convert all images into digital format. Then I create a few more colorways, adjust color saturation, contrast, clean it all up; these steps are the most time-consuming. I experiment with cropping it differently to create a balanced flow. Then the images are sent to the printer, with whom we do several runs to determine that the color vibrancy is good and the inks are right and we print it to order one at a time.
As an artist I have to appeal to people’s senses, bring the best out of them and remind them about their human side. You try and lift their spirit, making them pause for a second and put aside their hustle bustle everyday routine and focus on what they really want to be, to feel, to see.
OCEAN is TIME. Imagine soft and tranquil waves touching white sand, then your body and then your soul. Think of the time in your life when you felt so alive and that everything was possible. A moment you never wanted to let go. A dream that will last forever…I want you to FOLLOW YOUR DREAM. Remember who you really are, what you want and where you want to be. If I could do it, you certainly can too.
P.S.
I love this favorite item in my studio: I love crystals and collect them wherever I travel. This one is my favorite, as it unites the colours of the ocean and the structure of the crystal in one piece. I found it in Crystal Garden Byron Bay and since then it is always on my table.
“As an artist you have to talk to the souls of other people through your imagination.”
