Hello photolovers!
Today I bring you another article I wrote for the second issue of Mina, an interview with Russian multidisciplinary artist Maria Pleshkova.
Maria has an absolutely intriguing work and I believe everyone here will love to get to know it. So I put the final text in full below and also the pages of Mina. All images are by Maria Pleshkova.
An Inner Universe
Through her monochromatic works, Russian artist Maria Pleshkova, 36, tries to explore and portray an inner universe, a kind of microcosm. Maria, who defines herself as a multidisciplinary artist, is native from Moscow and makes use of different tools to create her own multidimensional artistic universe, where viewers can have an experience.
"I don't consider myself a photographer, because I’m not trying to portray physical reality. The inner world seems more real to me than the world around me. I prefer to say that I’m a multidisciplinary artist working in different mediums, such as photography, digital collage, art books, video, performance, writing. I’m excited to create new meanings and paradoxical connections. It's a game," she says.
Although she can't remember exactly when she took her first steps towards the artistic field, Maria believes that since she was a little girl she wanted to be an artist, even against her family's wishes. "My family didn't support that aspiration, but I was a rebel. Now I’m an adult, and here I’m, making art and following my own truth. Art has always been there, in one form or another, and I can't imagine my life without it. Even in the darkest times of my life, art has been both the main subject and the main support."
All of Maria's works are self-portraits, one of the most popular genres in the visual arts for centuries. "I want my self-portraits to represent my true identity rather than my physical appearance. In fact, I don't intend to portray my physical appearance. I explore the transmutation of the human body, through my own body, into other forms. So, the body is just a tool".
According to the artist, the choice to photograph herself came about through self-knowledge. "I’m the person I know best. My projects are autobiographical, intimate and self-revealing. And I'm not sure I could photograph anyone else to express all those thoughts and feelings I want to express. It feels good to be both a storyteller and a protagonist at the same time," she adds.
For her, "creating" and "being alive" are synonymous. "I live my life through my art, documenting everything I’m going through. Each project represents a chapter of my life and I have tried to be as honest as possible. So each self-portrait is a confession in a way, because I’m revealing who I’m. However, it can be difficult to reveal the dark and ugly sides without feeling shame, and being vulnerable."
The artist claims not to separate her "artistic life" from her "private life." "It's one life. I'm telling my own story, but in the end it's just an excuse to talk about things that are universal and common to all humanity. I want to make projects that people can relate to. I would like viewers to be able to see themselves in my work the way they see themselves in the mirror. I believe my work can be open to loads interpretations and can spark a dialogue."
Maria has worked as a full-time artist for ten years and believes that her creative process is highly intuitive. "I trust my instinct much more than reason. So I follow my ideas and concepts, which sometimes take me to strange places. Intuition is a great tool, but it can be hard to listen to the inner voice. We live in an age of information, and we are overwhelmed by it. Francis Bacon, who is one of my favorite artists, described his creative process in an interview: ‘I had no intention of making this painting, I never thought of it that way. It was like one continuous accident piling on top of another’. And I think I can totally relate to this quote," he details.
Thus, between one accidental work and another, Maria says she believes she isn’t a very productive artist. "I don't produce many pieces. In fact, I spend a lot of time learning, looking for references. Before starting a piece, I spend a lot of time thinking, dreaming and imagining it. Ideas grow slowly, like big trees, and I can't make them grow any faster. Shaping ideas takes a long time, but when I start work I’m quick and I devote myself completely to it. It's almost an obsession."
At the end of each work, Maria says she feels empty and drained, which she doesn't see as a negative point. "That is a good sign, because it means that I put myself 100% into the project."
About Mina
Mina is a monthly magazine minted on the Tezos blockchain. If you are a collector of NFTs, you can support our project by collecting an issue on the Teia community site.
If you are not a collector, but are a photography enthusiast and would like to follow the magazine more closely, you can join us on our social networks, on Twitter and Instagram.