The main subject for Yaroslava Liseeva’s works is the Nature with its forces and energy. We live in the world where everything is inconstant and changing, moving and interconnecting. The life is very complicated and simple at the same time. There is always chaos and order.
Today our minds are overloaded with tons of information, social networks, news. But we still have feelings, emotions, soul, which long for contemplation and nourishing by nature with its strength and beauty. It is very important just to make a stop and to open our eyes and see the world around, listen to it, feel it. We can see and feel so many things when we tune ourselves for that.
The trees, the ocean, the lake, rain, wind and sun… The real things. And we can find lots of answers and the true meanings just when we observe with all our senses.
When we connect with the world with our souls, and our feelings and emotions, we start moving in the Flow together with everything around. In my works Liseeva tries to capture the movement which arises inside her when feeling this Flow by the lines and call them the “iSoulines” (the isolines of my soul).
Self-taught or art school
Well, I do not have official art education, but I cannot say that I am self-taught. I wanted to be an artist since childhood, but was full of self-doubt and made a decision to enter the Moscow State University and become a geographer. But I never stopped drawing and never gave up my dream. So later in 1995 I met my Teacher. For 7 years I attended private studio of V.Akulinin, who created a special programme for grown-ups. I went through all the cubes, cylinders, busts of Caesar and etc, academic still life, even portraits. After learning the basics, we were challenged to start our own creative process. Main idea of my teacher was that when you know the rules, you can break them in your work, if the artistic idea calls for that.
If you could own one work of art what would it be?
It may seem strange, but I do not want to own any works of art. I prefer to enjoy art somewhere at the museums or galleries, exhibitions. There is a different feeling when you meet with art in comparison to owning. More magic I suppose. But there are some works which I love deeply and could look at them every day. For example, Michelangelo’s Pietá Rondanini.
How would you describe your style?
My art and my style grow out of my perception of the reality as a versatile combination of precision and spontaneity, fluency and precipitancy, tension and harmony, conflict and balance, chaos and order. In my works I appeal to emotional and spiritual dimensions.
And the key word for my art is the “Flow”. Using traditional fine art media like oil paints and focusing on classical landscape images I try to create dynamic, voluminous and flowing world, where everything is interconnected and interpenetrated.
The main constructive element in my paintings is the line, similar to isolines on the maps (yes, I still remain a geographer in my soul!) so I call them ‘iSOULines’ because they reveal the energy of inner tension and movement of the sensations born within the Flow. The canvas becomes the map.
Can you tell us about your art process?
The process usually starts from the “click” of inspiration. Suddenly I see something in an ordinary landscape and feel inside an impulse, a cluster of some tension, which needs to be released. At that moment the movement starts – quick or slow, sharp or fluent, which I lately transfer to canvas. I can call this the Flow – flow of the energy of interaction of my feelings, my mind, my soul with the nature.
Sometimes I have a theme or even themes I want to paint. I keep them in mind and just wait to catch a moment when I see something and get the answer. It may take time, even years to find and feel the right impulse. But I am always ready for that.
So when I see the idea, I make a quick photo (luckily today we all have cameras in our phones). All such photos are stored in a special folder. Then one day I feel that I need to find that very photo. And I start working with it. Before I had to print the image, now there is also no such need. I work on iPad carefully finding and tracing my “isoulines”. This is a very important stage of interacting with the flows of energy of the subject. Then I make a sketch and transfer it to canvas.
While painting quite often big changes can be made to the initial idea. It is just very important to be in the process, carefully listen to your inner voice and feel the necessity of the changes.
Is narrative important within your work?
I think I can say that there is the narrative and it is quite important, though not a very traditional narrative. There is always a metaphorical story behind, which I want to tell, but the story mostly is about the journey of emotions and soul and about opening the essence of the phenomena and objects around. And there is also one very important thing for me – the narrative which is born within the viewer. Sometimes people start telling me their own stories which are evoked by my works. At these moments I feel really happy and know that there is some bigger sense in what I am doing.
Who are your favourite artists and why?
There is quite a list of artists whom I love today. During my life it has changed a lot. But I have some names which are together with me from teenage. I am still fascinated by Sumi-e and Ukiyo-e art, by Hiroshige, Hokusai, Qi Baishi. I think that their art influenced me greatly.
Then I am still in love with Van Gogh art. His works, his life really impressed me in my teens and I always felt that his world was very close to mine, touched my heart, my feelings the deepest.
I love works by Russian painter who spent most of his life in India – Nicholas Roerich. Though his views and philosophy may seem quite controversial and too esoteric, but his works, especially mountain paintings, their energy resonate with my artistic perception.
I really love Wassily Kandinsky as an artist and as a thinker. I can spend hours in front of his works.
Among today’s artists whom I highly appreciate is David Hockney.
What or who inspires your art?
My main source of inspiration is the Nature with its Flow and Energy. I am inspired by simple things – trees (I love to paint them!), oceans, lakes, mountains. Everything that surrounds us. From all my travels I always bring not only souvenirs but a number of photos which are absolutely of no interest to anyone but me, because there are ideas of future works there.
Where is your studio and what is it like?
I do have a studio at my house, but I haven’t been using it for some time. Last year I had trauma and spent few months on crutches and wheelchair, so I couldn’t walk upstairs to my studio and had to organise temporary corner in the living room which is large enough for that. But there is nothing more constant than temporary, especially taking into account that I started working with bigger size canvases and now need some reconstruction to be done to my studio, because it became too small for me. But my favourite place for the work is in our holiday cottage 400 km from Moscow. There is a spacious room full of daylight with a great view of the lake. This pandemic year we spent there a lot of “self-isolation” time and I had great experience of painting and deeply enjoying the surroundings.
Do you have any studio rituals?
Well, I do have one little funny ritual concerning my work. When I finish the work I break one of the used brushes. As I am a terrible perfectionist and can paint and correct each work for centuries, so I made a rule for myself – at some moment when I understand that a decision should be taken, breaking the brush means that nothing more can be changed in the work.
What are you working currently?
These days I am studying the Flow in smaller scale objects – the flowers, leaves, brunches, grass. The name of the series I am creating is “The Flow of Life”. Metaphorically starting from the spring, when everything starts to grow and blossom through the seasons changes to the winter when the cycle comes to the end.
And also I am planning to recreate my “The Elements” Series. I painted some works around 20 years ago, and now as I became more mature professionally and personally, it is very interesting for me to make this Series again.
Where can we buy your art?
Connecting with me via Instagram or my website.
Instagram: @yaroslava_liseeva_art
