Russia (bbabo.net), - Elena Romanovskaya is a young but already quite famous artist from Nalchik. Her paintings are in private collections and galleries in Russia, Great Britain, USA, France. She is sure that the artist is a profession and she should bring money.
Elena calls herself-taught artist. As a child, she studied at an art school for a year, but then left, as she was not interested in completing the proposed standard tasks. After secondary school, she entered the design college of the Kabardino-Balkarian State University, from which her creative path began. Students traveled to various exhibitions, thus opening up a new art world for them. Elena confesses that he captured her. She began to paint pictures and come up with interesting projects. Later, Romanovskaya studied at the North Caucasian Institute of Arts at the Department of Cultural Studies. Thus, at the intersection of design and art criticism, her artistic "I" was born.
- In my art there is always a person. For me, he is the main character, - says Elena. - I adhere to the concept of human duality. In each of us there is both bad and good, while sometimes someone's negative qualities work for the benefit of society. I like to paint portraits and show how a person overcomes himself. For me, it is important that art is not judged on the basis of "like - dislike". It should impress. I want the viewer who looks at my works to comprehend them based on their experience, knowledge, feelings, dreams. So that the picture and the person speak their own language. And I don’t interfere in their conversation - I don’t have the right.
Elena believes that an artist should not be hungry. Her experience can be of great interest to beginners and young artists who want to advance in the art market. However, she is against chasing fashion trends. You can earn money by remaining yourself and not adapting to the trends that are popular here and now.
- But it is almost impossible to earn a lot and quickly in our business. Of course, there are those who churn out abstraction for interiors and sell it in packs. But this is no longer art, but marketing. Another way is to develop yourself as an artist, to talk about what excites you, to express yourself through pictures. And this is my way, - Elena continues.
Now Romanovskaya is engaged in the project "Promised Names" - she creates portraits according to a verbal description of a person's appearance or according to a story in which he became a participant. She records an audio text on a voice recorder, then closes her eyes to see the image in the dark, and when it is fully formed in her head, she gets to work.
Of course, the digital age gives authors more opportunities to express themselves. Elena began to actively develop as an artist three years ago, at the same time she began to participate in exhibitions held in various cities of Russia. She also sent her work to an exhibition in Taiwan.
- A young artist should have "watchfulness" - he needs to look at as many paintings by other masters as possible, especially of past years. I responded to naive art and Fauvism. Niko Pirosmani (one of the main representatives of naive art. - Approx. ed.) and Henri Matisse (French artist, leader of the Fauvist movement. - Approx. ed.) had a special influence on my work. You need to draw a lot, you can’t be a weekend artist, advises Romanovskaya. - I am constantly looking for new images. It is important to understand what worries you, what you want to talk about with people. For example, I like such a direction as magical realism. In no case should you be afraid to post your work in the public domain. Hat has always been and always will be. It's impossible to please everyone. Another important point is to find a teacher or mentor. I took a training course on artist strategies, which helped me find my way. You have to study constantly. And one more thing - it is important to be at the right time and in the right place, where you will be noticed, talked about and written about.
Romanovskaya's most popular work is the digital portrait "Parajanov". It was created on a computer and is provided in an electronic version. The poster is selling well and is already in private collections of Russian, European and American collectors. Although, as Elena laughs, not all foreigners know who Sergey Parajanov is:
- His films had a great influence on me, I tell buyers that this is a director, I even throw off links to his films.
The most expensive of the paintings she sold was the work "Feast for the Celebration", which went to the UK. They paid $2400 for it. Her main income comes from international online galleries - Gallarty, Artfinder, Singulart, Saatchi Art. Each of them has its own specific- It's not so easy to get into Artfinder, not every artist's work is accepted. But this gallery is engaged in sales, - Elena explains. - But Saatchi Art also specializes in the promotion of authors. They have a regular gallery and they can select works for an offline exhibition. It's prestigious. In any case, a young artist needs to constantly make himself known, post his work on social networks, mark galleries, put hashtags, participate in all possible open calls. Today, the Internet gives many opportunities for authors from the regions to create their own CV - this is a kind of artist's portfolio with a list of exhibitions and competitions in which he participated.
Representatives of large international galleries pay special attention to the projects in which the young master has appeared, evaluate his artist statement (author's credo). Romanovskaya declares herself as follows: "My hometown is Nalchik, a symbiosis of Russianness and Caucasian temperament, an embodied contrast of cultures. Hence, in my works, there is a strong connection between identity and ethnicity, personal experience and traditional semi-fairytale narrative."
According to Elena, the artists in the North Caucasus are not separated, they communicate with each other both in real life and in the virtual space. But they lack financial support.
- I dream that there would be some kind of art cluster in Nalchik - a building with workshops where we could write, communicate, support each other. I am not a member of the Union of Artists of Kabardino-Balkaria, but even if I join it, I will wait my turn for a decade in the workshop, ”complained Romanovskaya. - As for exhibitions, now there are quite a lot of them, I try to visit them whenever possible. I don't want to be completely online. When you see the picture live, the effect is completely different. And I still want live communication with the audience.
By the way
The correspondent asked Elena Romanovskaya what influences the cost of the painting. As it turns out, several factors matter. Of course, the price of materials (for example, canvas), the size of the work and the time spent on it play a role. But still, the determining factor for many authors is their own attitude towards the picture: if it is especially dear to the artist, then he will set the price for it higher.
The cost of works of art for Russian and foreign buyers varies, as foreigners can pay more for they like. Romanovskaya mainly sells her paintings abroad. As the artist explains, if you actively exhibit works on social networks and send them to online galleries, then eight to ten paintings can be bought in one month.
Meanwhile
A young artist can also get support through crowdfunding. For example, Elena was able to furnish her workshop in this way. She invited everyone to receive digital portraits from her for a small amount, which can be used as an avatar or printed on a T-shirt, although most still framed them. Elena called the participants of the action "patrons of Romanovskaya". Some paid for portraits much more than the named amount, and someone transferred money to her free of charge. As the artist admits, such support helped her a lot in the design of the workshop.
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