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For the studio visit please contact me here antonova.vo@gmail.com
Drawing is my primary medium. Any work is stipulated, defined and starts with a drawing. I approach every other medium that I use as if it were drawing. Sometimes graphic forms go out of paper and become objects, texts or videos.
The practice of drawing is very metaphorical for me. It is always associated with such notions as mistake, control, repetition, fear, loneliness and time. It is a process of balancing the control my drawing needs, and the level of letting go, when I can just follow the line. Control is very connected to the notion of mistake, with the struggle of defining a mistake, changing the perspective it can be seen, trying to work around it, overcoming the obstacles.
For me drawing is a constant search, a constant attempt to understand, to grasp the unattainable. It is a state of being ‘in between’, in between the opposite moods, in between understanding and not knowing, in between certainty and insecurity. It is a practice of escaping, ‘feeling’ the time.
My works usually are very personal, but reflect the reality we currently live in, which is very difficult to face now. The global state of the catastrophe, balancing on the edge of constant depression, and still trying to find the moment to breathe. Everyday overcoming or living through the dystopian melancholy that our society faces now. With my drawings I notice myself being fascinated with the simple forms, with the barely noticeable differences of grey and black, with texture of the paper. I am immersing myself into the movements of pencil on the paper and trying to find a light, confident form.
Short biography
I lived and worked for some time in Kyiv, Ukraine.
From 2016 till 2018 I was a part of an art collective Art-Group Light. Since 2018 I am focusing on my personal artistic practice.
In 2018–2019 as part of my practice development I took mentorings from Myroslav Vayda.
In 2021 I participated at Salzburg International Summer Academy of Fine Arts in the class “The Art of Art Writing – From art criticism to creative writing (and back)” by Louisa Elderton and Klaus Speidel.
In 2021 I was a nominee at Koschatzky Art-Award.
In June 2022 I obtained a Master degree in Fine Arts at Zurich University of the Arts.
Currently based in Zurich, Switzerland, I am a participant of the What’s next_Compass Programme 2022/2024.