10 Questions with Alisa Scetinina - Gaisma

Born in Latvia, Alisa has been involved with music and dance since her childhood. During her first visit to the Theater, she fell in love with the atmosphere and decided to pursue her dream of becoming a professional ballet dancer. At the age of fifteen, she left her family and moved to Germany to study at the Ballet Academy. She has signed contracts with Bavarian State Opera and Stuttgart Ballet and has been on Tour with both of the companies. After six years of ballet career, she has decided to pursue her passion and apply to the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart. She invested the rest of her time in the exploration of music. At a young age, in her hometown, Riga, she went to acting and singing classes and learned to play piano and violin. She has taught herself guitar and producing. Alisa quickly developed a passion for the analogue equipment and old-school gear that she is using in her live sets.

Besides her musical work, she is also engaged in visual projects. These include analogue and digital photography, behind and in front of the camera, as well as collages and video works, which she often puts in the context of music. Symbioses of auditory and visual material emerge, in which she presents herself in an increasingly contemporary form of movement. She acts as a composer, cinematographer, and performer in her works, which fluctuate between choreography and improvisation.

www.gaisma.space | @__gaisma__

Alisa Scetinina - Portrait | Photography - Matthias Straub

ARTIST STATEMENT

For Alisa, performance is the way one carries oneself and connects to the inner voice, whether it is through music, dance, film, or any other source of expression. Alisa believes that one can find it through self-exploration. The path that navigates us and teaches us how to channel our energies and process our inner and outside worlds. She speculates that we tend to view our body in parts, dividing it into organs, limbs, and chemical elements, forgetting that underneath the skin, there is a smart mechanism connecting it all. Alisa is staying curious and rebellious, exploring the fluidity of our psyche and body, unafraid to break the walls that we and our society have built for ourselves.

“In times of unpredictability and chaos, one thing that we can always be certain of is that the power and growth behind our personality lie in our own hands.”

— Alisa Scetinina

INTERVIEW

First of all, tell our readers a little bit about you. Who are you, and how did you start experimenting with art?

I was born in Latvia, Riga, next to a beautiful lake and a big wild forest. I loved to play in the woods and go berry and mushroom picking with my family. I enjoyed doing puzzles and listening to the classical cassettes on my boombox and creating concerts for my family where I would play some instrument, sing, or dance. Later on, I went to painting and acting classes and, in general, enjoyed pretty much everything that had something to do with creativity and sports. I liked being alone, wandering around our garden, and playing with my imagination.

What is your personal aim as an artist?

It is to give the viewers the feeling that there is a world beyond our rational mind. Beyond what our eyes can see and we can explain with our words. To embrace the power of nature and learn to grow with it. Give the courage to explore curiosity and passion, which are the two important blocks in our self-growth process. There are so many dimensions of art that I truly enjoy. So far I have explored dance and music the most, but I would love to dive more into cinematography and installation art.

ISRA, Digital Photography, 2021 © Alisa Scetinina
Photography - Matthias Somberg
Designer - Stjepan Cuka

You work with several different mediums, namely music, dance, photography, collages, and video. How do you choose which medium to use for a specific project?

It depends on the theme of the project. If I decide that I can translate what I am feeling better with body movement, then I choose dance; if with sound, then music. Quite often, I combine a few different mediums into one performance. I always leave some space for improvisation and give myself the freedom to make decisions right at that moment. I love sensing the presence and concentration of the audience in the room, the space itself, and the whole atmosphere, surrounding a particular project or event. Every project is a new experience, and I always take a lot with me, reflecting on my thoughts during the performance and my presence. Coming from a very disciplined and perfectionistic surrounding in the Theater, I used to be quite harsh on myself in the beginning. At some point, I lost my connection and joy for dance, and it became very mechanical and unattached to my body. After quitting my ballet career and getting more into music, this was exactly what I wanted to work on. To feel connected with myself, no matter which medium I was using, without feeling any pressure from the outside.

What do these different mediums represent for you? And how does your work change based on the medium you choose to use?

In my eyes, sound and light frequencies are the basics of our existence. Working with sound has always been very intimate and intense. I enjoy playing more experimental live sets, giving sound more space to shine through, without feeling that I need to bring people to dance and keep the rhythm going. I like when we lose ourselves in the sound and when the bass is felt in our stomach. When I go to the concerts of other artists, and their music resonates with me, it always helps me with my creativity, and I often start having vivid ideas for future projects.
Voice is as intimate as it gets for me. I enjoy singing, but I also had the loneliest moments in life whilst singing for others. I used to sing often in cafes and bars where people would not pay much attention to the musicians. Standing somewhere in the corner, singing my soul out, and feeling unheard. That was also one of the reasons I wanted to start singing with the band. At the beginning of my music career, I wanted to do everything I could alone. Now I am more than happy to share those lovely moments on stage, looking at each other and feeling connected.
Dancing and movement, in general, are helping us to get outside of our comfort zone and get in tune with our intuition. Trust our body and move with it. In the beginning, I used to focus only on the musical part of my performance, and now I am combining it all together. Concentrating on how I carry my body through the day and having a healthy morning exercise routine helps me not to feel stiff on or off stage.
With my musical performances, I must prepare much more ahead, think about which instruments I will be using, program new patterns, or reuse old ones. I normally build an approximate set list, but the way I build it up, which elements I decide to use or not, is happening only in the moment. It is different for most of my dancing projects; I let myself free and often don't know what my next step will be. There might be a theme or movement quality that I would concentrate on, but in general I like to surprise myself and dance with the unknown.

How much of your personal life is reflected in your work? And how does it helps you further develop your art?

Of course, my lyrics are an insight into my inner world and state. In my first two albums, one could hear a lot of relationship and love drama, but that is not something that I want to concentrate on in general. I often sing about Light, being honest to ourselves, and destroying our egos. I wanna write lyrics with which people can reflect on themselves or on some particular situations. Explore new thoughts and emotions and dive into the relevant topics that are concerned with our belief systems and our role in society and within the family. I sing about the things that are relevant to me, and until I write my thoughts down and give them a "Home"- a Song, it doesn't feel like I myself found peace with them. Some emotions and thoughts are easier processed when they are being heard in the form of music and text, and some when they are seen in a human body moving through space.

Where do you draw inspiration from for your work? Do you have any specific reference or artist you particularly like?

George Washington Carver was one of the first black biologists in America. His romance with nature, art, music, and God is very inspirational and almighty. There are so many talented artists that I meet on my path that inspire me. I enjoy seeing the boldness and passion that people show with their art. I look more at their creation's energy and the people surrounding them than the "product". My family would often go to the museums with me, and in every city that we traveled to, we would always visit a few. I remember that Picasso and Salvador Dalí left a big impression on me.

What is your favourite experience as an artist so far?

Oh, that is a hard question, and I have never asked that myself. It is difficult for me to compare them since they are all so diverse in themselves. I enjoy playing or dancing, and seeing the faces of my lovely friends in the first raws. It is important to me that the whole organisation process and meet and greet when you start a new project or arrive at the venue is pleasant. That you feel welcome and that people who have invited you truly appreciate your art and didn't just book you for some other reason. I enjoy when one connects with other artists during the event and collaborates on a different project later on. I guess those are all the things that make my experience brighter, but I can't name only one.

What do you think about the art community and market?

I live in Stuttgart, and compared to Latvia, Germany gives many opportunities and support to artists. Various funding programs, scholarships, and grants are available, and we just need to take the time to get to know them. So I am definitely grateful for this type of support. I also feel like a big shift happened in our art and music community in the past two years. People started to work more with each other and less against each other. Understanding the power of coming together and uniting is when new ideas are born, and new exciting events can take place.

And finally, what are you working on now, and what are your plans for the future? Anything exciting you can tell us about?

Oh, where to start? I am planning to choreograph more and film new short films. I am dividing my main project Gaisma, and will be playing live and Dj'ing electronic music under the new pseudonym - Tumsi. I have collaborated previously with Chicks On Speed, and I am excited to play with Melissa E. Logan and her new project VooCha in Texas at the SXSW. I wanna connect other artists together and give them space to grow, so I will also be curating my first exhibition, "Sacrifice Of Your Little Self," in the Necktar Gallery in Stuttgart. In general, I am looking forwards to more exciting and meaningful projects outside and inside Germany. I also want to work on my work-life balance and take more breaks to energise and rest. Learn to set my boundaries, invest more time in my self-care routine and spend more time with friends and family.

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