10 Questions with Anastasiya Malyghina

Anastasiya Malyghina was born in 1996 in Irkutsk, Russia. After graduating from Kopylov Art College of Irkutsk (painting faculty) in 2018, she moved to Saint-Petersburg. Since 2019 Anastasiya has been actively involved in exhibitions in Italy and London. Anastasiya's artworks are held in Russian and foreign private collections.

Anastasiya Malyghina is of the idea that art speaks for itself. Her art is a flow of unconsciousness which becomes a sign, forming a unique image system. She achieves that due to the intuitive, fast drawing technique that originates in Pablo Picasso's art.

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 ARTIST STATEMENT

“Viscerally I've always been looking for a way to express inner wrecking, chaotic ideas and energies that I experience every day, that I live, eat and sleep with.

This is how gradually I came to a fast drawing technique. This method not only allows to transform the stream of unconsciousness into a sign but also to achieve my left hand's full potential. This, in turn, lets me create expressive and extremely acute widescreen artworks.

I don't own a specific concept. Nevertheless, I believe that conceptual schemes could unite my artworks. Images in my works contain everything that a mythological mind can do: love and death, Apollonian and Dionysian, order and chaos.”

INTERVIEW

Could you tell us a little more about your background and how did you begin making art?

I've been making art for as long as I can remember. Being a child, I was astonished by Rubens and Bosch reproductions. I entered art college to study painting. I dreamt about dedicating my artistic career to academic art. However, things changed rapidly in 2017, thanks to one extremely important person in my life. If I hadn't had a chance to work with this person, I wouldn't have become the person I am now. It was my graphic teacher A.I.Yushkov.

From the moment I started to work with him, I got acquainted with a fast drawing method. This method has changed my vision of art drastically and influenced my becoming an artist. 

What does your art aim to say to the viewers?

I always rely on the sensual perception that I get from the surrounding chaotic system of existence in my work. My vision lacks ostentatious conceptual schemes, as I am fully convinced that intuitive drawing could be enriched pictorially, which is much more extensive than a speculative form of the concept. The vast majority of my artworks are extremely pictorial. This is my aim as an artist – to impact a spectator, brought to the verge.

In a system of images that are being built up in my artworks, there is everything that a mythical human mind could possibly express: love, hate, Apollonian and Dionysian opposition, order, and chaos. Embodiment itself touches me deeply with its ephemeral fragility. My entire method is based on inner disharmony. All I did was finding a way to transform it into a creative source.

What aspect of your work do you pay particular attention to?

The quality, power of the image, movement of patches and forms – these are the initial components. After that, I build up and work on a compositional part.

Do you have a role model that you've drawn inspiration from when working as a graphic artist? Tell us more about your source of inspiration…

Right now I am at the point where I don't have role models. However, there are artists whose world perception I can relate to and possibly understand. For instance, Mark Rothko, Wassily Kandinsky, Pablo Picasso, Lee Krasner, Vrubel, Lucian Freud, Edvard Munch.

What is your creative process like?

My left hand is a guide between paper and my subconsciousness. During the work process, I give it all the authority – it knows best what to do, I will not try to disturb it. Sometimes I don't even realize how a work was created because my state could be described as trance while I'm drawing. When I'm facing a 2.5x3 m. piece of paper, I never know what comes out of it. Three hours later, I am looking at something I never knew I could create.

How much planning goes into each artwork?

I rarely plan any of my artworks. In a span of a few days, I am starting to feel a vivid need to draw, which could be compared to neurosis or obsession. That is when I understand that it is time to work.

Is there a piece you consider a "breakthrough" in your career?

Of course, some works allow me to open a new step in my art. 

Every time a significant work appears, the need to surpass it appears as well. Sometimes, creating something more powerful becomes a repetition that is never a good thing for me as an artist. With time I got a system "every time is the first time." Only if I am ready to fail and take a risk to experiment – only then I get significant work. Thus, I consider an ability to surpass my achievement. 

In your opinion, what role does the artist have in society?

An artist is like a naked nerve that feels everything stronger and more acute. It is just another way to exist. Sometimes society decides to put an artist on a pedestal, and he suddenly stops being a human. Frankly speaking, I don't entirely understand the role of an artist myself.

What are you working on now, and what are your plans for the future?

I am working on a portrait composition series. In the future, I plan to master a bigger format and create a six m. composition. I would also like to make my first personal exhibition, that is why I am currently looking for a partnership.

What other interests do you have outside of art?

Art is the only thing that captivates my mind most seriously.

Finally, Share something you would like the world to know about you?

Oh, I just want the world to know about me.