Ex Collage

I was born in Kyiv in Soviet residential area in 1988. I was always into art: my dad taught me how to draw, I loved going to museums with my grandma and singing for my family. The first collage I’ve ever made was on the door of my room. I found old magazines and cut all the human eyes out of them. I stick them all to the door. There were like lots, lots of eyes. Big and small, all colors and shapes. I also wrote down on my door: «There are exactly as many stars in the sky as there are our eyes». It was a quote from my favorite song. When I grew up I dedicated myself to teaching children. I think children are the best people to deal with. So making art helps me to get in touch with my inner child. Collages are my passion. I do both — analog and digital collages. it’s a kind of meditation for me. I like placing ordinary objects in an unexpectable context to create thought-provoking images. I try to rethink the perception of everyday life and open up new bundles of meanings to familiar things. It’s also my way to sublimate. Life in a big city provides lots of existential experiences: anxiety, stress, fear of the future, desire of closeness and striving for freedom. All these feelings are sometimes hard to live with and art is the remedy. Art making allows me to slow down in time and space and live in the moment. The other important component is nostalgia. It’s one of the sources of my inspiration. I like to use old photographs, newspapers and magazines in my artworks. It is a chance for these images to get a new, so called second life. They get updated in some way. They continue to live.