10 Questions with Kateryna Brovkova

AL-TIBA9 ART MAGAZINE ISSUE14 | FEATURED ARTIST

Kateryna Brovkova is an artist, painter, illustrator, and fashion designer from Ukraine. Currently, she lives in Munich, Germany. She was forced to temporarily relocate due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
She is a participant and a winner of multiple arts and fashion competitions. She has been working in the field of fashion and commercial illustration and design for many years, as well as producing her own illustration brands of prints and postcards in Ukraine and worldwide, and being a part of the worldwide fashion illustration, art, design, and NFT community.
She started drawing at three years old, learning to sketch and express forms and objects using different mediums and techniques.
Now her artworks are featured in a Times Square billboards art show and are presented on international platforms. She has been featured in exhibitions in London, Washington DC, Warsaw, and many other locations worldwide, and her work has been presented in numerous publications & magazines. She believes that art has the ability to transmit global values and influence other industries.
All her paintings touch upon important social and psychological themes, various phenomena on a planetary scale, as well as personal reflections on living through important periods of her life. The most commonly used materials for her paintings are mixed media and digital art.

behance.net/bro_illustration | @bro_fashion_illustration

INTERVIEW

First of all, why are you an artist, and how did you become one? 

I started to draw when I was three years old, when I was learning to draw and express forms and objects using different mediums and techniques. 
There were periods when I didn't draw, but one way or another, there were situations that required my response. And at such moments, I could only "live" many of these situations by expressing my emotions and thoughts through art.

What is your personal aim as an artist?

My personal goal as an artist has been transformed since February 2022. My mission is to popularize art in common, to make it "understandable" and interesting for younger generations, and to show that art is not only going to museums but also something that can live on the wall of your house and inspire you in everyday life.
In this way is important to show the deep connection between art, interior design, and fashion, to give some tips and visual examples of how to fit art into the interior or how art influences on fashion.
February 2022 divided the lives of Ukrainians into before and after because of the military attack of Russia on Ukraine. The life of Ukrainians has changed. We have lost everything - a happy, peaceful life, homes, relatives, and friends. We are fighting for existing and survival every day. But at the same time, we didn't lose ourselves, our traditions, and our art. There was a huge surge in Ukrainian culture and art starting in 2022. Therefore, now my main mission is to acquaint the world community with talented Ukrainian artists, brands, and culture and to support every Ukrainian artist, no matter where he is in the world. 

You have a fashion background and also work with fashion. How does it influence your work as an artist? 

For a long time, I worked as a fashion illustrator. I love the history of fashion, and it's so interesting to follow how the DNA of iconic brands changes, what path they go through, and how new brands are developing. Fashion has always gone hand in hand with art. Just like earlier, artists and illustrators have a huge influence on the development of the fashion industry.
Now, in the modern world, the need for sustainable fashion and smart consumption combined is more acute than ever. The fashion series in my art collections appeal to the uniqueness and value of fashion. Ideas, moving on to chamber capsule collections and urging us to stop massively polluting the planet. I believe that art has the ability to convey global values and influence the design and fashion industries.

Where do you get inspiration for your works? What sources and mediums do you use?

Art & fashion are my passion. Also, gratitude for many ordinary things and, sure, the amazing people who happen in my life, the deepest kindness and empathy - it's all my unlimited inspiration. Another endless source of inspiration for me is spending time near the seas, and oceans, traveling the world and getting to know other cultures.  
Noticing beauty and aesthetics is also a skill that needs to be trained. And if you do it regularly, then you seem to be in the space of inspiration all the time. I use acrylic, pastel, golden leaf, markers, and digital art for creating art pieces.
In February 2022, I ought to live all my paintings and all of the materials. I lost most of my artworks. But I was so grateful that I had most of my artworks in digitalized form. For several months I didn't have a temporary home, and had no possibility of getting the new material so I couldn't create works with manual materials. This is what made me look more closely towards digital art. In the future I will also digitalize all my physical works.  
Also, an important discovery for me in 2022: we received huge support from the NFT community, and raised huge amounts to help Ukrainians through charity sales in this area. Previously, I didn't delve into new technologies such as NFT. But still, the experience of 2022 has shown that technological progress should not be ignored.

What is your creative process like? And how did you evolve this way of working?

Since I practice Kundalini Yoga, I'm working with creative, high-vibes vibrations. I believe that energies are affecting and are important. Therefore, I start working on the art piece only when I clearly understand what exactly I want to broadcast with this artwork. Most of my art goes further, to people's homes, in the form of original works or prints, so it is important for me that these works carry the right energy to help, protect, inspire, and create good energy at home. If to describe the process in the form of an algorithm, then usually it is an idea - a desire to express it - a sense of form, color, and technique - a study. The key is always the idea, feelings, and experience that you want to express through art.

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

Organization and consistency: for me, as a creative person, this is a real challenge! And these things, in my opinion, are the same integral part of the work as creativity and inspiration. These are opposite things, I'm learning to keep a balance between them.
Also, an important aspect for me is to make my work understandable. I mean, to communicate through artworks. Do not create a huge gap between creative and logical people. As I said above, I want to popularize art for everyday life for future generations. Therefore, it is important for me not only to express my feelings and ideas through artwork but also that they are understood.

Your work is profoundly influenced by your Ukrainian roots. How do you incorporate references to Ukrainian culture in your works?

Oh, that's a very interesting question that I could talk about for hours. Thank you! Ukrainian Ethnic Series is a very special series of art. It's like coding my genome into the art.
In my artworks, there are many references to ancient ornaments and culture, for example, motifs of the painted ceramics of the ancient Trypillia culture and many references to the ancient ethnic group and how colors and shapes were interpreted in ancient times.
For example, the oval shape means egg as a symbol of the beginning of beginnings, and cyclicality, a symbol of new life and rebirth. All of the ornaments convey the concept of denoting love, faith, hope, and braveness. In ancient Ukraine folklore, a very important place was given to celestials, flowers, herbs, and ancient Goddesses. This is very interesting. Each of these has its own meaning. 

What do you think about the art community and market?

I'm very glad that we live in such times when there is an opportunity for networking, learning, and interaction! Thanks to this, the art community and market are alive and growing.
I'm also very glad that the art market is taking its stable place, with its institutions, funds, publications, and competitions. All this gives us, as artists, an incredible, inspiring information field and many opportunities for interaction, participation, and development.
And this is definitely something that will live on after us.

What are you working on now, and what are your plans for the future? Anything exciting you can tell us about?

Right now, I'm working on two big projects. The first is a new art series called "Inner Child". This series is dedicated to everything we are silent about "in adult" life, about dreams, inner experiences, feelings, and searching for "one's own place" in this world. This is all that we feel in our hearts but is often ignored by logic and daily routine as «unimportant».
The second project is dedicated to the history of Ukrainian fashion, about implementing ancient print motifs into modern trends. This series of artworks will participate in the creation of fashion collections in ‘2024. 

And lastly, where do you see yourself five years from now? 

I want to organize an art community, possibly based on some kind of institution, within which both artists and interior designers will interact, which will be able to support young artists, regardless of their place of residence, give them the opportunity for growth, and networking. This will be a synergy that will help develop two related areas. I follow a lot of interior designers. What they create is fantastic and definitely an art. And for me, it is very important that interior designers сan broadcast the trend of paintings, art prints, and decor items in their visualizations as an important part of the interior. Interior designers have a huge impact on trends and people's minds. It will definitely help in popularizing the art.
Also, I will definitely support the direction of recycling and vintage because this is both reasonable consumption and history. This is a great ability to create a symbiosis of old and new. Now I'm looking for a brand that creates collections based on recycled fabrics to create a collaboration with the addition of Ukrainian folk prints. I definitely believe that I will create this collaboration, and we will make it worldwide and known in 5 years.
And, of course, I plan to develop as an artist. Self-development is a process, and I love it! I don't know what topic of my artwork will be relevant for me in 5 years, but I know for sure that it will be).
I'm open to collaborations in all of these directions!