10 Questions with Sofya Danilova

Sofya Danilova has over 15 years of photo shooting experience. She is proficient in a wide range of styles — from photo manipulations and art photography to commercial photo shoots with ADimage photo studio.

Her works were awarded at XIII Florence biennale in the New Media category. 

Previously Sofya’s work was exhibited at the LoosenArt gallery in Rome, M.A.D.S. Gallery in Milan during the Milan Fashion Week, the Boomer Gallery in London, and several online exhibitions.

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ARTIST STATEMENT

“I first started making kaleidoscopes after going to the abstract art festival. Among many works, I saw there an installation of neon threads stretched between trees. They were ordinary wool threads of a certain color that glowed in the ultraviolet. While they lay on the ground, they were not impressive at all. Still, after they were combined in a preconceived pattern, the strings and the ultraviolet light made space a low-polygonal (low-detail, emphatically minimalist) matrix.

I was looking at their pattern and internally debated whether a photograph adequately conveys a sense of this space, which immerses the viewer in itself? 

When I began to edit pictures from the festival, I tried to achieve the same immersion effect in the picture, of closedness of wholeness. But an ordinary photo was not enough for that. So I started experimenting with form and realized that nothing is as immersive as symmetry. That’s why most of my work deals with central symmetry’s the most closed system possible.

But the question always remains: what exactly to immerse oneself in. Something beautiful? Something curved, difficult to place in space? Both are interesting in their own way, especially when there is a possibility to combine them. And so, I decided to explore how beauty and ugliness are intertwined in our perception, taking both of them to their absolute.” - Sofya Danilova.

INTERVIEW

When and how did you start getting involved with visual arts and photography?

I'm a second-generation photographer: my father runs a professional photo studio. So when I was a teenager, I tried to resist photography rather than aspire to it. But I guess some things in life have to happen in a certain way, and if you're accustomed to a certain symbolic system and self-expression since childhood, you're bound to use it later.

What for you is the most enjoyable part of your art?

Selecting the images, I will work with. Whether it's my own photos, a collaboration with someone else, or pictures from photo stocks, I spend hours choosing an image that gives me goosebumps and makes me want to see what I can make out of it.

Let's talk about your digital collages. Can you explain what your idea is and how you are working on it?

All I do is intuitively recycle subconscious images into other related entities somehow associated in my head. 

For me, one of the most valuable things in my working process is allowing the rational part of my mind not to think about creation. I turn off the part that processes images at the level of the higher nervous system. Not trying to articulate anything; just letting it be. I stop talking about how I feel and start showing it. 

I have a pretty coherent idea of how all of my art should be perceived. But I don't want to tell others what they should see: the whole point is for the audience to interpret their own subconscious images, just as I do.

Where do you find inspiration for your work, and what is your creative process like?

Well, I don't usually need any additional inspiration. I just see things that I want to put inside the pictures I am looking at. I dream of the moment when I will predict exactly what picture I need for artwork and shoot it just for that purpose in advance, but right now, I'm using the existing lines, poses, and colors.

In your work, symmetry has a powerful influence. Can you explain to us why you use symmetry and what does it represent to you?

Fifteen years of shooting and editing pictures led me to the point where two-dimensional photography was just not enough to express everything I wanted. I experimented with frame dynamics and volume, tried a hand in different styles, but in the end, decided not to limit myself by just two dimensions — and started bending them via symmetry to create more space in my art.

The idea of kaleidoscopes was born after a visit to the abstract art festival. Among many works, I saw there an installation of neon threads stretched between trees. They were ordinary wool threads of a certain color that glowed in the ultraviolet light. While they lay on the ground, they were not impressive at all. Still, after they were combined in a preconceived pattern, the strings and the ultraviolet turned ordinary studio space into low-polygonal (low-detail, emphatically minimalist) matrix.

I was looking at the pattern and internally debated how a photograph could adequately convey a sense of this space, which immerses the viewer in itself?

When I began to edit pictures from the festival, I tried to achieve the same immersion effect in the picture, of closedness of wholeness. But an ordinary photo was not enough for that. So I started experimenting with form and realized that nothing is as immersive as symmetry. 

And so, to pass across more complex feelings, I started to create kaleidoscopes — images that can achieve the effect of space's enclosure and deeper immersion in the picture. That's why most of my work deals with central symmetry: it's the most closed system possible. 

Why do you use this visual language? And how has it evolved over the years?

It is the language of wholeness, completeness, fullness — something that the world around us lacks in many ways. For me, it is a story about harmonizing space while revealing what is most important. Symmetry, repetition, reflection — these are techniques that, with constant practice, become more and more numerous, so you could say that over the years, I have a larger set of expressive means and ways of showing what I want to show in an image.

My use of symmetry can be divided into three groups. The first is all related to geometry. The second is everything to do with shapes and objects hidden in the original image but only appear due to symmetry. The third is the purposeful creation of new imagery when you take a picture and begin to put new meanings into it that were not originally there.

Although, this only applies to images of nature or objects. You don't create images; you release them because a person is a ready-made symbol from the very beginning. And not every image of a person is suitable for making a new symbolic picture out of them.

It's all based on that layer of brain activity that goes way too fast for you to realize what's going on. Intuition is the sum of everything you've ever heard and seen, all the experience and sensations, all the associations. When you look at two similar pictures, within seconds, you already know which one you like better. And if you continue to examine these feelings carefully, you can understand and explain them in the actual words. Or images, in my case. 

But all the colossal work of comparing pictures happens on an intuitive level. And for me, the most interesting thing is to extract these images from the pictures, pull them out, show them to the outside world, and bring them to their peak.

What do you hope that the public takes away from your work?

I hope that they will get some of their own impressions out of it, immerse themselves in this experience, and their perspective will give them new meanings that are unique to them specifically.

Because I don't want to tell people how they should think of me or my work. I look at my paintings as a result of my thought processes. It's a reflection on the world-in-my-head, not on the world in general. Other people's perceptions of my art are reflections of their own thought processes.

What are you working on now, and what are your plans in terms of new projects?

First of all, I am currently working on a series of portraits, and it is quite difficult because until now, my techniques have never focused on the portrait as a genre. It's hard to rethink everything you know in order to find a fundamentally new approach. And secondly, I am now diving into NFT activity; I've already minted ten of my works on Foundation.app and started a collection on Rarible. It's a whole new world that I'm going to immerse myself in for the next few months. 

Thirdly, I have spent the whole of April 2021 preparing for the Florence Biennale. This is a new step in my career as an artist, and I am very happy that I got this chance.

Do you have any upcoming shows or collaborations you are looking forward to?

First, in June my work will be exhibited at the Barcelona International Art Fair. Secondly, as I already mentioned, my art will appear at the Florence Biennale in October. 

As for collaborations, I am going to work closely with other artists creating crypto-art and digital art objects. But I can't give any specific names yet.

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

I like to keep it simple. Everything that I do is just some part of me. So come to see me.