Alisa Gorshenina
Motivated by the rhythm of life, Alisa Gorshenina’s relationship with art birthed from entertainment, grew into salvation and is now a way of life for me. Working with multi-media, Gorshenina is fascinated by their capabilities of different materials, now studying mechanics and planning for a “Museum” – a sanctuary where the work can reside.
What did you dream about last night?
Last night, I was in another world. I dream about this world every night. It has similarities to reality, but it's more surreal. For example, all the buildings I have visited in my reality, in my dream, are embodied in one giant house, which is forever transforming and changing. I can go into a room that looks like one of my schools, and inside it there will be an apartment that I once lived in. Geography is also intertwined. I can walk through the city and turn a corner and I am suddenly in my village, where I lived as a child, or in a completely different country.
Every night I see repeated locations, different stories happen to me there. I did not immediately begin to notice this, but about a year ago I suddenly seemed to realise that I was in a dream, as if I woke up inside a dream and realised that I had already dreamed of all these locations more than once. At first, I was afraid of these feelings, but over time I adapted. Now, when I go to sleep, I know that I am going to another world, I know that maybe inside it I will understand that I am in a dream, but I am ready for this, just because it happens so often. I am very interested in unravelling this phenomenon, I want to appeal to people who study dreams, so that they can help me understand what the world of my dreams means - my fantasy or something more.
Can you tell us a bit about your journey to your practice?
My path as an artist began in my childhood. It may sound corny, because all children make something until they grow up and draw, but for me, art from an early age was something key in life. Initially, I perceived it as entertainment when there was nothing to do - I always drew or made something. As a teenager, art became a therapy for me, an escape from loneliness. During this period, I made a lot of graphic works in which I showed my fears and what torments me. During the same period, I went to art school, alongside normal school.
Art school was an outlet for me, after normal school I would run to art school, because I liked it more. It seemed to me that people go there who need something more from life than just to be born, go to school, University, work and die. Perhaps I am mistaken, and this is just my imagination, but the atmosphere of this art school, seemed unique to me at the time. When I grew up, I already knew what I was going to be, I always knew that. I entered the art Institute, but this was not enough for me, so in my second year I organised an art group with two other students, my friends. The art group was called "second hand" and our main ideology was the secondary use of different items. We turned old useless things into art.
Another of our ideas was to raise some kind of artistic movement in our small town. At that time, we didn't know if there were any artists here at all. Therefore, the first exhibitions that we organised ourselves were massive, we invited different people to exhibit with us. Our exhibition areas were in various old cinemas or abandoned houses. At the same time, we all studied at the Institute. For me it was a difficult because I already considered myself an artist, but in fact I was still a student, and I was offended when at some exhibitions I was called a student, and not an artist. I was so strange haha. The group existed for 3 years, then we broke up and I started moving on alone. Now I still work as an individual.
During my childhood art was entertainment for me, in my adolescence it was salvation, therapy, and in my youth, when I was a member of an art group, art was like a tool with which I can encourage people to take action, now art is a way of life for me. It is already so ingrained in my everyday life that I do not know how it can be otherwise. It's everything to me now. I really appreciate every single thing I've done, not because I think I'm some kind of incredibly brilliant artist, no, I don't think so at all, but because I appreciate my work because it's mine, because I feel myself in it. This is such a stupid attachment to the material, but this material is very spiritual, unlike simple things like a chair, a table, etc. For me, my works are vessels or capsules in which I place myself, in the hope that they will outlive me for a long time, and also in the hope that someone needs it.
What conceptual themes or references do you tend to work with? Do you have any key inspiratory figures?
I must admit that it is difficult for me to identify clear themes in my art. A year ago, I would have said that my art is about me, but now I think I have outgrown this storyline about myself, about my life. If earlier the themes of my works were more specific, for example, about my life in the village, childhood, school injuries, etc., now this specificity is dissolved before something new and global. Of course, you can see many different themes in my works, such as physicality, some personal mythology, the connection of man with nature, Russian folk motifs, but I think if I make clear notes on these topics, it will significantly narrow the spectrum of perception of my works for the audience.
Let's just say that I work with a set of personal characters that each viewer can reveal in their own way. What I can say for sure is that I never work with current high-profile topics that are in demand in the world. For instance, no one will ever see me work on the topic of coronavirus, because I am not interested in such reflections. I have my own world, the world of Alice Hualice, in which I decide whether there is a cataclysm or not, whether there will be a storm or calm today.
As for the themes in my art, I want to show by example how new motives appear in my work. So, not so long ago, my family found my own grandfather, somewhere far away in Bashkiria. This is my dad's dad, who we had never met saw and we did not know who he was. It turned out that he is of Eastern blood, and therefore I am. Now I want to know my nationality. And these seemingly ordinary life situations have already begun to bear fruit in my works.
There is something very calming about the colour palette you work with. What guides the colours and multimedia you decide to create with?
I admit, honestly, I didn't think about it and purposely never build any special colour palette, so I think it all works intuitively. I don't like bright colours, I prefer and am inspired by natural colours and nature. The colour of the grass, the colour of earth, the colour of the sky, the colour of water, the colour of snow, the colour of clouds, the colour of the trees. All these colours are all perfectly combined and can be found anywhere.
If you created a scent to accompany your work, what would it smell like and what would you name it?
This is such an interesting question. I have a very sensitive sense of smell and hearing. I smell a lot of smells and hear very subtle sounds. That's why I love silence and when there are no smells around, even pleasant ones. Despite this, there are still smells that I really like, but I can't describe them exactly. For example, there is a specific smell of spring - it is absolutely inexplicable, but when spring comes, after a long cold winter (well, this is in the Urals so), I open the windows, smell the slightly warm air and understand that it is spring. I don't know what it really smells like. If from more real smells, then I really like the smell of freshly mowed grass and the smell of coniferous forest. But conceptually, the smell of spring is more suitable for my work - the smell of Mirage, which most likely does not even exist. That's what I'd call it. And everyone would smell it, feel something different, as well as in General looking at my work, everyone has their own emotions.
Are there any new realms or materials you are interested in working with?
I have been wanting to experiment in cinema and theatre for 3 years, I may not be ready yet, but I am already writing a script. This will be an experiment, a short meter, and even more likely not a movie, but an animation. I really like this area. In addition to my costumes, textile sculptures, paintings, and everything else, I do animation and video art. I want to develop in this direction and maybe one day grow up to be a person who can put on their own theatre production.
In general, I am a multi-artist. That is, I do not work with any one material, I constantly try new things. But I am interested not so much in different materials, but in their capabilities. I am currently studying various possibilities of mechanical sculptures and mechanics in general, and it is all very interesting. There is no limit to my interests.
What are your thoughts on the future of your creative industry? How do you think this will be remoulded or progress over time?
If you analyse my creative path, then for about 7-8 years my work has almost not changed ideologically. Of course, the execution has partially changed, somewhere I have changed radically the approach to my work. For example, I used to be able to let other people try on my work, but now I categorically do not allow this to happen. Over time, the connection between me and my work has become stronger. So far, I have seen progress in my work, despite the fact that I speak about the same topics in my work. And I hope that it will continue to be so. Although for me the most important thing is to please myself.
This is a very stressful time to be a young creative. What keeps you motivated and creative? What advice would you give to young creatives right now to keep them motivated?
I have already said that art is a way of life for me, but here I want to add that my life literally revolves around art. I mean, every new year I have a pre-scheduled for months, there are a lot of different exhibitions and events. I work very hard. The rhythm of life itself motivates me to create. This year has caused a lot of adjustments to my exhibition plans, but it did not frighten me. On the contrary, it gave me more time to calmly create something new and not think about anything else. So, I don't think I have any advice for young artists. I think if this is your life's work, then you don't need any motivation, just do it if you really like it. Yes, it can be hard and sometimes I think about why I'm doing all of this, but then I realise that I'm doing it because I chose this path, because it's the closest thing to me, and I don't want to do anything else, and I just keep going.
What would be on your Desert Island Disc?
This would be a collection of well-known artists such as Nirvana, the Smiths, Lana Del Rey, Courtney Love, Soko and a slightly less famous, but no less talented performer - Molina. As well as the Russian band Kino (Кино), several songs by singer Alla Pugacheva (Алла Пугачёва), and my favourite old song from the cartoon "Bremen town musicians"(«Бременские музыканты») performed by Muslim Magomayev - "the Sun will rise" (Муслим Магомаев – «Солнце взойдёт») - without this song I can not live.
What’s next for you?
As I said, this year has made many adjustments to my plans, but not global ones. One of the most important things, in addition to constant self-improvement, is the desire to open my "Museum" in nature, away from the city. This is not a Museum, it is more like an artist's house, where I simultaneously create and show my work. On the one hand, I already have a workshop inside my apartment, but I want it to be a house where people can come from all over the world, with the opportunity to stay in this place. This idea is also related to the theme that I want to create a home for my works, which will always be a home for them. Now I am looking for a plot of land, and in the near future I want to put several works on sale and spend all the money I get to buy the plot. Perhaps I will only tell you about this, because in our fickle world, it may not be worth making plans. But I plan to implement the idea of a Museum 100 per cent%.
interview KATE KIDNEY BISHOP
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