AJ: Internal changes in a person affect his creativity. What changes do you feel now?

Svetlana Kalinkina : Now I can say that my period is overly emotional. If you analyze my previous exhibition “The Dream of Reason” (held in Moscow in August 2015 - author's note), then it was so cheerful and peaceful, and “From Outside” was expressive and energetic.

AJ: Yes, I have noticed that the works have become more realistic, despite the fact that they are fabulous. Their surrealism just reflects our multifaceted life.

Svetlana Kalinkina : You yourself know that I do not work in the realism genre. My paintings can only live outside of it. Although you gave me a very interesting idea.

Maybe what we imagine so by the term “outside” is reality itself. There is reason to think ...

AJ: Yes, exactly. These images just show you and me. And what sensations and feelings do you have for the beautiful monsters you created?

Svetlana Kalinkina : You know, the sensations are always very different. For example, at the exhibition “Sleep of Reason” the creatures seemed to me such defenseless children. Especially when they are all taken away at once, and you think: “God, how are they there”?

When I arranged my new works and looked at them, I felt like something small compared to the one who looks at me from the outside. I am just more influenced by them.

AJ: That is. they seemed to you as giants, and you were so small, as if you were their child, and not they are your children.

Svetlana Kalinkina : Yes, it felt the other way around. I don’t know, maybe this is due to the fact that the format is much larger, or to the realization of something powerful in terms of energy.

AJ: Of course. Perhaps this means that the images have become more independent from you?

Svetlana Kalinkina : Yes, if before that I felt that I could somehow influence them, now every picture has acquired some kind of independence. It turns out that she began to live her own life and her own history.

AJ: Our world is all woven of contradictions: beauty becomes ugliness, good - evil and vice versa. What contradictions do you want to show?

Svetlana Kalinkina : You know, I am often asked this question. "Why are you drawing monsters"? They seem to be good and even kind, but they always seem to evoke a feeling of rejection, at first glance. With close acquaintance, they evoke much more interesting emotions. I probably have such a credo in life.

I would like to show that some seemingly unsightly creature can cause quite interesting positive feelings.

AJ: I agree with you. I cannot say that if these are monsters, then they must scare, although sometimes it makes sense to be scared (laughs). It's just a different category and your works are just attracted by the fact that they show our inner world, and this world is far from perfect. It has both a good and a bad start and a lot of emotions. This is close to each of us, just not everyone can look inside themselves - this is very scary for many.

Svetlana Kalinkina : Yes, do you know why? Because people are used to seeing mostly beautiful things around them. And if you notice that the life that has surrounded us for the last decade is glossy covers. Although now stereotypes are gradually changing. I'm just trying to move away from them, tk. I do not think that the beautiful must necessarily carry any emotions. Artists are afraid of this, because breaking stereotypes is quite difficult. Do not know,

let's try, take a chance ...

AJ: You have already taken a risk, so you just need to go ahead and bring art to the masses.

Svetlana Kalinkina : You know, you still have to believe. For many years I was told: “You have to move away from this, it is not interesting to anyone,” but I stood my ground. When there is inner confidence, then there is a return from people who come to exhibitions and feel more acutely, in contrast, for example, to art critics. They look at pictures from a technical point of view, and I would like to be perceived from a spiritual and moral point of view. This is much more important to me.

AJ: Right now, new free movements are emerging in art and there is no need to be afraid to change something. Many people probably associate your work with fear. What meanings do you personally put into them?

Svetlana Kalinkina : You know, very often people ask me “How do you create your works and what do you put into them”? I always honestly answer that I never know exactly what kind of image will turn out in the end. He is born by himself by some kind of intuitive instinct. For example, if you need to draw a snowman with a trashy red nose, then you need to. If the witch is toothy, then I leave her like that. I do not attach any special meaning on purpose.

It feels like when there is a pen and paper, I feel more like a pen, through which my works are created. And the pen, as you know, never thinks about what it creates.

AJ: You said that you alternate between dark and more positive pictures. What do you think is between dark and light?

Svetlana Kalinkina : By the way, I also thought about this topic. Something in between, it seems to me, can hardly be. Either good or bad. You understand that the average passes by us.

AJ: Maybe some new category will open if you imagine?

Svetlana Kalinkina : You mean something between the concepts of good and evil?

AJ: Yes, exactly.

Svetlana Kalinkina : An interesting question, of course. I’ll say right away that I’m not going to create an average. I am such a person by nature: I go from one extreme to another. And if a new category ... Maybe some kind of super-unreal cosmic creatures that can have several properties at once.

AJ: That is. it should be a new image, right?

Svetlana Kalinkina : Yes, probably so.

AJ: It can be seen that you put a lot of emotions, experiences into each work. What else would you like to reflect in them in the future?

Svetlana Kalinkina : You know, I was fond of Giger for a very long time (Hans Rudolf Giger is a Swiss artist, author of Alien images - ed.)

After the exhibition, I will try to go to some other worlds, maybe try to achieve some kind of neon light in my paintings. It seems that using oil, I have already found some interesting color schemes that can allow me to do this. I would like to go to the cosmic worlds more. The theme of monsters is interesting, of course, and it can be developed further, but you need to try to portray other creatures as well. Create some kind of new world ...

AJ: I myself really like Giger. I would call myself a fan of Aliens and all this biomechanical romance. The theme of the unknown and the cosmic is inexhaustible. You can find a lot of interesting things in it.

Svetlana Kalinkina : I hope ...

AJ: Then we can only wish you good luck and the embodiment of new ideas. Thank you very much for the conversation!

Svetlana Kalinkina : Thank you!

Interviewed by Natalia Pushchinskaya.

08.11.2015