giovedì 21 luglio 2011

Interview with Katerina Gorokhova






q) Please tell us your name and where you practice.


a)Katerina Gorokhova, Moscow area.


q) Why do you make art?


a)It is an output for ideas.


q) How do you work?


a)The way I work always mutating, so each time it can be different. I take photos from which I work, or I can find a picture on internet or in a magazine, and use it for my paintings.


q) What´s your background?


a)I got my BA and Postgraduate of Fine Art at the Byam Shaw – St.Martin’s in London.


q) What role does the artist have in society?


a)Artist decides for himself/herself what role he/she carries in the society. I personally think that artist should be careful about subjects that he/she portrays. It is important to what we, as artists, give an advert to...


q) What was a seminal experience for you?


a)Coming to London...


q) Has your practice changed over time?


a)For the last ten years that I’ve been practicing art, I’ve done sculpture, installation, video-art, digital collages and painting.


q) What art do you most identify with?


a)Figurative, colourful, social...


q) What´s your strongest memory of your childhood?


a)When I was eight, I killed a mouse by spaying it with hairspray.


q) What themes do you pursue?


a)Family, society, truth, something that is real


q) Describe a real life experience that inspired you.


a)Working nights at London Astoria and Jazz Cafe, listening to the best bands alive, and then making art at the Byam Shaw daytime


q) What´s your most embarrassing moment?


a)I killed a mouse by spraying it with a hairspray.


q) What jobs have you done other than being an artist ?


a)Barmen, Bar Supervisor, Babysitter, clerk in the fashion showroom, I sold swimming suits, then I curated an exhibition at the R.K. Burt gallery in London, I was a curator at the Russian Academy of Arts, and now I will pursue teaching art.


q) What responses have you had to your work?


a)Good ones and bad ones, I am grateful to all sorts of comments!!


q) What do you dislike about the art world?


a)The art world is no different from the rest of the world. One can ask what I dislike about the world?!


q) What research do you do?


a)It depends on the type of series that I work on. I can search on internet or go to the library, or just take my camera and go outside. Usually when I travel by train or in subway, I can get ideas just by being around ordinary people. I get inspired by simplicity.


q) What is your dream project?


a)The one I am working on at the moment.


q) What´s the best piece of advice you have been given?


a)Don’t think!


q) What couldn’t you do without?


a)Love


q) What makes you angry?


a)Most of the time I feel sorry for people, rather then anger.


q) What is your worst quality?


a)I am not money driven


q) Dogs or Cats?


a)Both, every living creature on this planet, exept for bugs, I have a slight fear of them.


q) Making art is a lot like being on lsd. Know what I mean ?


a)To my mind, art resembles a scientific process with an enlightment, then one needs to put a lot of hard work. So, I can’t realy compare it with an effect of being on a drug.


q) What does “copy” mean to you?


a)I can not relate to the word copy, as I’ve never done any copies. My pencil drawings from Durer and Bosch, still carry a different manner.


q) What´s your favourite cuss word?


a)I don’t like swearing and I don’t like when people swear around me. I think it’s a weakness.


q)Your contacts….


a) http://www.katerinagorokhova.ru