11 Questions with Stepan Ryabchenko

Born 1987 in Odessa, Ukraine, Stepan Ryabchenko is a leading Ukrainian media artist and Art Laboratory chief curator. His work spans conceptual architecture, sculpture, and light installations. The focus of his attention is the boundary between the real and virtual world and the new nature of art. In his artwork, the artist creates his digital universe with its heroes and mythology. Well-known for his monumental prints and video-art installations of non-existent characters, including Computer viruses, Electronic winds, Virtual flowers, etc.

In his art practice, Stepan Ryabchenko always tries various forms of art and technology, giving priority, especially to innovative technology. With the rapid development of technology in recent decades, art and science are more closely linked than ever before. The cutting-edge integration of the two has brought forth a myriad of new phenomena that Stepan Ryabchenko believes merit further research and analysis.

Like science, art is also a tool for understanding the world around us. Science and art use different methods, but they have a lot in common in that they need to be open, creative, and have an endless interest in learning new things. Furthermore, knowledge itself is an infinite process, an engine that stimulates the development of various human activities.

Stepan Ryabchenko's works have been widely exhibited internationally, including the Ludwig Museum exhibition in Budapest, Saatchi Gallery in London, Krolikarnia in Warsaw, Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb and Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum in Bratislava, Manege and Gostiny Dvor in Moscow, etc. His works have also been exhibited in many places in Ukraine, including PinchukArtCentre, Mystetskyi Arsenal, National Art Museum, M17 Contemporary Art Center, Museum of Odessa Modern Art, Modern Art Research Institute, etc.

INTERVIEW

Could you tell us a little more about your background, and how did you realize that you would become an artist?

I was born in Odessa into a family of artists. That was when we lived in a picturesque place of our sunny city – in my father's workshop, right by the sea. Since childhood, I was immersed in a creative atmosphere; I was keen on drawing, sculpting, designing, and creating installations from different stuff that I found in our house. Later I decided to become an architect; in this profession, I could fully express myself. At a certain point, the area of my interests began to expand; I started to develop sculptural compositions and began to think about designing a virtual environment that would give me complete freedom. This approach expanded my range of possibilities. Architecture, sculpture, visual arts — all these became interconnected.

Your work emerges from conceptual architecture, sculpture, and light installations. What are you trying to communicate with your art?

I want to convey the images, feelings, and emotions with what life fills me with my art. I want to share my fantasy.

Your virtual world is rich in natural elements and mythology. Where do you find inspiration? And what experience of your life is reflected in your creations?

I draw inspiration from life and nature, my childhood memories, through communication with loved ones, learning new information, and thinking about the riddles of the Universe. All of these are reflected in my works. Through art, I discover myself.

Do you consider your virtual world, dramatic or enthusiastic space?

I think this world is very diverse. As in life, it contains various states... joys and experiences, calmness and dynamics, heroes, and antiheroes. I never know what awaits me ahead, so after finishing one work, I start a new one with great interest, wanting to know what horizons the next door will open to me.

Your latest work, "Hunter," intrigues me a lot. What is the intention behind this expression? How do you relate this to the actual events happening around the world?

This work has exciting prehistory. On March 22, 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 crises, I organized my archive and came across my work called "The Pink Fox," which I created back in 2018. At some point, I opened the file and started working with it. The delicate pink background suddenly changed to a disturbing combination of purple and green. The protagonist's image took on a complex biomorphic form, and most of the characters left space altogether. The stage took on an alarming state, and the animal froze as if waiting for prey. Later that night, the work, that was named "The Hunter," was completed.

It became a kind of prophecy, pointing to developing events, as all this began to occur in reality actively: cultural life in the world froze, all institutions were closed, there was nowhere to exhibit, people were forced into isolation.  

At that moment, as an artist who works with digital art, I decided to act as a curator and organize an international virtual exhibition with my team. I invited artists from all over the world to participate in this project. The focus of my interest was to show how artists of different generations, views, and nationalities see and feel this time. While negotiating with each of the participants, it turned out that every one this or that way was thinking on the same topic. The project is named Strange Time. You are welcome to check it on www.strangetime.art.

You have been quoted as saying, "knowledge itself is an endless process, an engine that stimulates the development of various human activities." Can you talk about your process intellectually and technically?

I am thinking about life constantly. I am interested in getting new knowledge, especially when relating to a person's spiritual side. During my work, all my life experience is intuitively reflected in my art. It is intuition that allows me to fully express my imagination and create images based on my subconscious.

Tell us about the colors on your digital palette?

They are the colors of the digital world, bright, rich, in places supernatural. Perhaps we will see the same in Paradise [smiles]. Modern printing technologies cannot yet convey all the subtleties and shades embedded in the digital palette, but they are improving and approaching every day. I experiment with color all the time, finding different states for my work. The color reflects feelings and emotions that pass through me at the moment of work. When color and form meet each other, a harmony of the image is born.

How do you keep yourself up to date with the latest digital trends, software, and technologies that have today a significant impact on your artistic production?

In digital tools, as in painting, many nuances are impossible to fully master. I am constantly discovering new technologies and techniques, which, in turn, give rise to new ideas. Many of my digital works created in early 2000, I recreate today once again in new materials and new quality. Some of the series that were created as static works, I animate today using new digital software. There are works in which I combine various technologies – digital work with neon elements, sculpture with computer animation. It has always been interesting for me to experiment.

I noticed your talent maybe five years ago with your work "Blessing Hand." How was your art back then, and how do you see your projects evolving in the next five years?

In 2015, I started to engage in computer animation actively year later, and I began working on the series "Virtual Landscapes" and "Virtual Gardens," in which I fantasize about the Digital Paradise. I like feeling like a digital romantic, growing new plants, giving them names, and coming up with their unique qualities. Today, I am working with great interest on a series of fantastic landscapes that, as I feel, are related to my impressions of the reality I live in. Starting with Odessa and its nature, the sea and its reflections, sunrises, and sunsets. Recently a black spider somehow appeared in our apartment; I dedicated work to this creature too. I don't know what will happen in five years, but I would love to realize my first architectural project.

You are also a Chief Curator of Art Laboratory. I am curious to know more...

Art Laboratory is a creative association that was created in 1996 by my father, Vasiliy Ryabchenko. Its activities were initially aimed at developing contemporary art in Ukraine through the introduction of modern digital technologies and its integration into the global artistic process. In 2020, within the Art Laboratory framework, the Strange Time project was created, which continues its work until the pandemic ends in the world. After that, I have a dream to publish a project catalog.

Stepan Ryabchenko, I am happy to ask you all these questions but lastly, share something you would like the world to know about you?

Dear Mohamed Benhadj, accept my best thanks for this exciting conversation. I must admit that I am happy to have had the opportunity to share my artwork with the world, in which I try to put the best of me.