10 Questions with Ksenia Sokolovskaya
Born in 2002 in Moscow, Russia, she lives and works between Moscow and Tbilisi.
Ksenia works in oils and acrylics on large formats, and lately, she has been paying a lot of attention to color and watercolors. Her work is associated with love, tenderness, and revelation, but at the same time with pain, melancholy, and sadness.
Ksenia Sokolovskaya participated in several collective exhibitions at "Here at Taganka", Moscow, "Proun Moscow", Moscow, "Haze gallery", Berlin (online exhibition), and so on.
In 2021 she created some wooden installations of her creatures for the "White lanes" hotel in Moscow.
Ksenia Sokolovskaya - Portrait
ARTIST STATEMENT
Working in oils on large canvases, Ksenia's works immerse the viewer in the world of mythical creatures, sad characters, people, and animals wandering through nameless landscapes. Ksenia describes the process of creating each image as a rush of nostalgia and melancholy. She paints under some kind of intuitive impulse that knows something that the artist might not. This vagueness of intentions allows Ksenia to work with brushes, a palette knife, and with her hands and fingers on a large canvas or manipulate the amount of oil paint, applying it either in a flat layer or in a large mass on the canvas. Applying layers of oil pigment to the canvas with her fingers allows Ksenia to be as close as possible to her paintings, to merge with them through the paint, demonstrating its organic nature and creating a feeling of closeness between man and art. When the figures and images of Ksenia appear in front of a person, they may ask the viewer to look into their eyes to be understood. Her characters need to be understood without question or explanation. Ksenia sees her characters in dreams, sometimes, she comes up with some details in the course of work. She finds many characters in fairy tales of different peoples of the world, in books and myths, and in legends. Many flowers and plants can be found in her latest works. It is a symbol of tenderness and longing, which are tears, tears of joy, and sadness simultaneously. These vivid paintings speak for themselves, depicting images that seem to arise from a mysterious fairy tale or from a fantasy film, from dreams, and in some way from the viewer's own feelings. Ksenia's paintings are based on fantasy, dreams, and strong feelings that bring an alternative world to the canvas, a world of freedom and love, but at the same time, sadness and loneliness. Her work focuses on nostalgia, melancholy, devotion, and tenderness in touching scenes that create space for salvation and healing.
Amphibia, wooden installation, 2021 © Ksenia Sokolovskaya
INTERVIEW
First of all, introduce yourself to our readers. How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Impulsive, Strong, Impatient
How did you start experimenting with images?
When I was 14 years old, my friend showed me an exhibition that was arranged by his sister. It was at the abandoned hydroelectric power station, and it was amazing. I've never been to such a mysterious place before. That day I realized that I wanted to be an artist. I was very young and did not know a lot about art. Picasso, Matisse, Jean Michel Basquiat, Fernand Léger, and many very famous artists inspired me at that time. I wanted to create something huge, and I didn't like small things and painstaking work. So I found a huge wallpaper roll at home and began to paint something inspired by Picasso. I painted with watercolors, pastels, and gouache (whatever I found at home). That painting is still one of my favorite ones. That's how it all started.
Harmony in nature, oil and acrylic on canvas, 100x180cm, 2021 © Ksenia Sokolovskaya
You have worked extensively in Moscow, and now live in Tbilisi, Georgia. How do these two cities influence your work?
Only after moving from Moscow I realized how much this city ate me emotionally. My first experience of living in another country was in a small city in the Czech Republic, where I realized that it is best for me to live in a small city and that I do not have enough energy for too active and energetic cities. Despite this, when I lived in Moscow, my works were very bright and contrasting. I think it's because I was aiming for something intensely bright since Moscow is a very cold and gray, depressive city for nine months a year, and I needed to add bright colors to my art. Now, when I live and work in Tbilisi, my creativity has become deeper and more conscious. For the most part, this was influenced by the war in Ukraine, the situation in my country, and other terrible things and difficulties that I encountered. Also, the indescribable nature of Georgia, the mountains and the sea, calmness, and harmony brought a certain regularity to my work.
Can you tell us about the process of creating your work? What is your artistic routine when working?
In addition to working in the studio, I have the usual boring human work that I need just to make ends meet. Sometimes I go to work at the workshop before my, as I said, "human" work. On such days, I just finished some details in my paintings and put the workshop in order. If I have a whole day to devote to working in the workshop, the first thing I do is go for a walk or just walk from home to my workshop.
At the workshop, I change into my work clothes, turn on the music and start working. I am quite a careless person. Paints, brushes, etc., are scattered all over the place, and I use everything that lies around. I'm working on one big piece, and to distract myself, I switch to small watercolors or paint on magazines. This helps to inspire and take a break from the main project. My friends or my boyfriend can come to the workshop in the evening, and we drink wine and relax or do some joint work together.
Fatigue, oil and acrylic on canvas, 150x50 cm, 2020 © Ksenia Sokolovskaya
Hope, oil on canvas, 150x70 cm, 2022 © Ksenia Sokolovskaya
You mostly work with painting, and use bold colors and thick, black lines. How do you choose the colors, and what do they represent for you?
I used to choose colors for work randomly. There were paints all around me and I absolutely intuitively combined colors. I mainly drew inspiration from other artists' paintings, but most of all, I was inspired by Jean Michel Basquiat when I began developing my style. Now I am more serious about colors and their combination in the picture. Recently, the following system has been traced in my paintings: a dark (black, dark blue, or dark green) background, central characters, and ornaments are expressed in bright colors. This gives the work a certain mystery and harmony. It also resembles Russian painting (bright flowers on a black background) and plunges you into the world of Slavic fairy tales and legends. The black lines that separate the colors from each other do not carry any secret meaning, it's just that the work looks more expressive and solid to me when everything is outlined in black.
Tell us more about your style. Were you influenced by any artist or art movement in developing it?
To be honest, I do not work in any particular style and do not consider myself part of any art movement. At the very beginning of my career, I was inspired by the work of the Cubists and, at the same time, the Expressionists. Therefore, my paintings contained a little of both. Jean Michel Basquiat and his provocative bright paintings were something amazing and inspiring for me. Now I am inspired by deeper art, more "heavy" and a little scary. Francis Bacon is my favorite artist right now, and his truly terrifying yet interesting paintings fascinate me. Daniel Richter, Maja Ruznic, Roger Ballen, Louise Bourgeois, and many more outstanding artists, among which, of course, many of my compatriots (Erik Bulatov, Ilya Kabakov, etc.) greatly influence my art and perception of the world.
Toska, oil on canvas, 50x70 cm, 2022 © Ksenia Sokolovskaya
In your work, you deal with dreams, mythologies, as well as legends. Why did you choose these references? And what do you wish to communicate?
I have very vivid and interesting dreams, which sometimes even scare me. For a while, I suffered from sleep paralysis and began to draw everything that I felt. I am inspired by the myths and legends of various peoples of the world, and by combining the heroes of my dreams and the characters of fairy tales and myths, I surround myself with my world. I have always wanted to work in the theater as a decorator and create spaces for performances. I find it terribly interesting to create a fairy tale world on large canvases or to make large installations that touch the city and the people.
What do you feel makes your work unique and truly your own?
I can't boast of a lot of experience behind my back, but over the years of work, I have developed my own specific style. Almost all of my characters in the paintings do not have pupils, I like to apply a thick layer of paint on a flat surface, plants and flowers are always found in my paintings, and many other details, I think, highlight my style.
April, oil on canvas, 60x80 cm, 2022 © Ksenia Sokolovskaya
Do you find that the shift to digital exhibitions and art fairs has helped you promote your work?
As for virtual exhibitions, I don't think they helped me a lot to express myself and show my work to more people. Although the digital industry has already taken over our modern world, I am more into offline exhibitions where people come to see the art of this or that artist and see each other in real life.
Lastly, what do you wish to accomplish this year? And what is one project you look forward to?
This year, I only want this terrible war in Ukraine to end, and in general, for all wars in this world to end. We are all tired of this senseless hatred and pain. As for my art, before the end of this year, I just strive to complete the paintings and projects I have begun. One project I want to do is to create a lot of wooden installations of my mythical creatures and decorate the city with them.
