Where the beauty gets created: in Alisa Gvozdeva’s Dilijan studio

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE HOUSE WHERE SASHA TOOK HER PHOTOS? WHERE IS IT LOCATED AND HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN LIVING HERE?

The house is located in Dilijan, it’s a wonderful place in Armenia where I moved about two months ago. There’s a lot of nature areas around, including forests, mountains, and waterfalls. Now I can’t imagine getting back to living in a city again.

DO YOU LIVE HERE ALL BY YOURSELF?

I live here with my boyfriend, who is a musician, and because of that, our home resembles an art residence, since we’re constantly creating stuff and making up some ideas together.

IS IT HARD FOR TWO CREATIVE MINDS TO LIVE AND WORK TOGETHER?

It’s joyful, in fact. Together we are working on establishing a music label, where I mostly make designs for cassettes. Moreover, I started doing creative work in the first place exactly because of Anton: he taught me to do what I like, not bothering about success or profit.

DO YOU HAVE PLANS ON MOVING OUT FROM THIS HOUSE?

It’s a difficult question, since I keep on changing plans in my head. Besides, there’s two of us, and because of that it’s even more difficult to make a decision like this. I love Saint Petersburg, and I’m certain of getting back to that city.

HOW DID YOU END UP HERE, AND WHY HAVE YOU DECIDED TO LIVE IN ARMENIA FOR SOME TIME IN THE FIRST PLACE?

I moved to Armenia after the February of 2022, just like many other people did. It turned out that I never really knew what our world is really like, and I was very terrified by that. So I just ran away, took some time to rethink everything. I heard about the (here was a word that is forbidden by the Russian legislation) coming from the talks of my six year old niece, who I was taking home from school, and I remember telling her that it's complete and impossible nonsense. I still think of it that way, but now all of this has become a reality.

DID YOUR RELOCATION HELP YOU AFTER ALL? HAVE YOU MANAGED TO RETHINK EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO RETHINK?

Moving to a new place allowed me to regain my composure, although it didn't happen immediately. I felt the urge to change everything I was doing, and I realized that I shouldn't keep the joy of creating art to myself. That's why I decided to organize a ceramics workshop for teenagers at the "Tumo" educational center. However, this experience made me realize that I should continue doing what I have always done. While it's challenging to accept, I see some meaning in my practice, at the very least, it doesn't harm others.

DO YOUR NEW SURROUNDINGS HELP YOUR ART PROCESS? IS THERE MORE INSPIRATION COMING FROM ARMENIA THAN RUSSIA?

I usually don’t get inspired by a country, since the unity is more inspiring for me, than the limit. I like the synthesis of different cultures. I get inspired by the contrasts in Armenia: the sun is very hard here, while the water is soft. Along with ancient culture, there is also Soviet fleur here. Nature is also very different: it can exhibit both extreme and friendly characteristics simultaneously.

HAVE YOU TRAVELED TO OTHER CITIES TOO? MAKING ACQUAINTANCES WITH LOCAL ARTISTS AND CULTURAL SIGHTSEEINGS?

I don’t travel much here, but it came to my attention that there are many sculptures on the streets, often without any titles or names of the artists written on them. There’s a lot of bulbul ak's and khachkar’s fountains, and it makes me feel the creative atmosphere around here. My favorite place in Yerevan is Vajrapar: it’s a place with very active cultural life going on inside, including exhibitions, cinema screenings, works of local artists being exhibited all the time. The atmosphere at the “Tumo” studios is also very positive, the students create really talented things. Moreover, you can run into a grandson of a famous Armenian artist when you step out of the art store on Saryan street, and have a chat.

WHAT IS THE RECEPTION OF RUSSIAN ARTISTS IN ARMENIA LIKE? IS IT EASY TO INTEGRATE YOURSELF INTO THE LOCAL ART COMMUNITY?

I was surprised by Armenian people’s openness and good nature. A lot of my acquaintances have hosted master classes at “Tumo”. Almost anyone can learn something new in this center, share some skills and knowledge with other people. This place has provided a lot of support to many creative people from Russia.

WHAT USUALLY INSPIRES YOU? WHERE DO YOU TAKE YOUR IMAGES FROM?

The images come by themselves. Sometimes before the creative process starts to happen, but almost always they come randomly. I create a lot of things, conducting a global research of everything, and the result is just a tip of the iceberg, while another part is the search. Nature inspires the most.

WHO ARE YOUR FAVORITE ARTISTS? IS THERE ANYBODY WHO INFLUENCED YOU THE MOST?

When I was a kid, there was a time when I got sick and I was laying at home with a high temperature. I was looking through a magazine issue dedicated to Bosch and I was very impressed by that.

DO YOU STILL GET THAT CHILDISH KIND OF EXCITEMENT FROM SOME ARTWORK?

To be honest, I am most impressed by music, particularly when experienced live. While I am more knowledgeable about music than visual art, there are many talented musicians I could name. Currently, I am particularly drawn to Hermeto Pascoal, a jazz musician famous for his unconventional techniques. He can turn a swamp into a musical instrument, using bottles to produce wobbling sounds while also clapping his big belly to create soulful melodies. His music is a beautiful madness, and the way he creates it is total, which is why it's so cool.

WOW! NOW I WANT TO GIVE A LISTEN TO HIM! HOW DOES YOUR DAY USUALLY GO IN A NEW HOUSE? IS THERE SOME KIND OF A SCHEDULE YOU HAVE ARRANGED?

I usually get up early and decide if I want to go for a walk or make some art, and most of the time I choose the latter. My work is akin to that of a five-year-old's, as I spend my time cutting, gluing, drawing, sculpting, and always creating with my hands.

APART FROM PAINTINGS, YOU ALSO WORK WITH CERAMICS. CAN YOU TELL WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THESE TWO MATERIALS FOR YOU AS AN ARTIST?

I seem to have learnt to paint a bit, but with ceramics there is still some kind of a love period going on, when I learn something new and it often comes out a bit dorky, just as I like. It’s currently difficult to tell the differences, because I have put my ceramics practice on hold for some time, but I’ve enjoyed learning from both and it was fun.

YOU HAVE BEEN STUDYING THE FACULTY OF FREE ARTS AND SCIENCES ON COGNITIVE RESEARCHES PROGRAM IN SPBGU. HOW DID IT TURN OUT THAT YOU STARTED DOING ART? AND DOES YOU EDUCATION HELP YOU IN ART PRACTICE?

The faculty has given a very wide range of knowledge, not deep ones, but valuable. I was inspired to make art by the printed graphics course. I almost instantly realized that working with materials with my own hands while being completely free to choose what to do is my thing. I chose neurophysiology because the way our brain and consciousness works was interesting for me. But unfortunately, I was disappointed in the research process and realized that I should look for answers in other areas, not obvious, but incredible ones.

IN WHICH AREAS, FOR EXAMPLE?

In areas such as the behavior of cells, atoms, and animal perception, the life of fungi, and the ways plants reproduce. It can also be found in reflections on time and space, transpersonal psychology, and the synchronicity of everything. Other areas include the process of birth and death, mythology and anthropology, the history of human migration, the formation of soils during volcanic eruptions, and other chemical and physical processes. It can be seen in the formation of life on our planet, the birth of our universe, and the nature of space and black holes. Religious spheres from various traditions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, and Zoroastrianism, also offer insight into human consciousness. The more we contemplate these topics, the clearer our understanding of the human consciousness becomes.

TELL ABOUT THE PROCESS OF CREATION OF YOUR ART PIECES.

Most of the time I come up with the understanding of what my work is going to be about, being directly in the process already, based on some state or impression of mine. I like accidents, which are never accidental really. I get inspired by something certain quite rarely, but when I do, I am always ending up with creating something cooler and more thought-through.

WHAT THEMES HAVE EXCITED YOU IN THE START OF YOUR PATH AND WHAT THEMES EXCITE YOU NOW? HAS SOMETHING CHANGED SINCE THAT TIME?

I seem to struggle delving into the deep layers of my consciousness now more than before, because this process is always very pleasant for me. Now I take more things from the surrounding reality, not getting flown away too much. I want to realize how I can make this world better, how I can speak in a way people will listen, not saying something destructive at the same time.

DO YOU THINK YOU MANAGE TO FIND SUCH “WORDS” THROUGH YOUR ART?

I’m not sure of that, I’m still on the way to that. Maybe this goal will never be achieved, but I get pleasure from this process, and it seems to me that this is the most important thing. For starters, you should be at least confident in what you want to say, and I’m still too far from being confident in anything.

WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON NOW? WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS?

Currently I paint more with oil, which is something I wasn’t capable of before, and now I’m working on that technique. Since I don’t have access to ceramics, I started to come up with some different ways of creating objects. I tried to carve sculptures out of a local tuff stone, but my spine started aching because of that. I stopped making plans a long time ago, but I tend to do something not only beautiful, but also valuable for getting to know this world better.