Three by Three: Guest Artists in Focus
QUESTION 2. In series like Thresholds, geometry feels almost intrusive rather than decorative. How do you decide when a shape belongs in a composition—and when it should disrupt it?
ANSWER 2. The Thresholds series is a study of the history of the Dnipro rapids, a natural wonder of global significance that suffered devastating intervention during the reign of the Soviet Union. The rapids as a phenomenon shaped the character of Ukrainians, especially the Cossacks. Therefore, the study of turbulent water is metaphorical, leaning toward a search for identity. Part of the series is called Paths of Unnecessary Geometric Shapes Over a Turbulent Landscape. In this series, the imbalance is exacerbated by the daily presence of combat drones and missiles. These "geometric shapes" are deadly dangerous and unnecessary against the backdrop of the natural landscape. My life and my peace have been disrupted, so the choice of composition is a reflection on aggression.
Ilona Kuznetsova
Multi-Media Artist
MEDIUM: ink, paper
BIO: The artist, known as Ilona Design, was born, lives, and works in Ukraine. She is an architect by profession. Her first career was as a graphic designer.
The artist's research:
* Minimalism as a counterpoint to visual noise in the modern real and virtual environment.
* Globalization, research into the sources and intersections of cultural visual traditions.
* Recording states of consciousness and reflecting on the events of the RF war against Ukraine.
Conceptual projects:
* New Ukrainian Landscape, series: Horizon; Landscape of Dreams; Serene sky, charred ground; Toponyms; Thresholds.
* Kodama Project.
* Saints Crypto.
* Tardigrades.
Exhibition activity:
* 2024 "Flower of War"
* 2022 "TIME CUT"
* 2021 "Islands"
* 2020 "To Be and To See"
* 2019 "Artefactum"
Projects:
* META HISTORY: Museum of War.
* The Art of Martial Law. MOCA NGO Archive.
* Piazza Ucraina 59th Venice Biennale.
* "Ukrainian Voice. Your choice!", USA.
* JAR Artist Residency, "So Far, So Close", "Invasion", Israel.
INSTAGRAM: @Ilona_Design
QUESTION 3. You work across graphic art, photography, digital media, and physical art objects. What changes in your thinking when an idea moves from screen-based work into something tangible?
ANSWER 3. In my worldview, different media are just tools. I really love different possibilities and different methods of expression. It is often believed that an artist must be consistent in order to be recognizable. For me, this is a little sad and uninteresting, so I often change. In winter, when there is little daylight, or due to power restrictions caused by shelling, I draw digitally. But I know for sure that when possible, I will return to physical media, because tactile sensation is the path from my soul to paper. There is nothing more magical than the magic of ink and wet paper. Sometimes 2D format is not enough to tell a complex story, and then volume or textured materials appear. There is nothing more interesting than looking for new artistic possibilities: painting with earth or sand, adding metal, gesso, or feathers.
QUESTION 1. Your work often places clean geometric forms into turbulent, unstable environments. What draws you to that visual tension between order and chaos?
ANSWER 1. The geometric shapes in my practice emerged as a continuation of Ukrainian folk art, through Ukrainian modernism, for example Kazimir Malevich, to me. Crosses, circles, triangles are the code on which consciousness is based. The idealistic landscape of peaceful life has been desecrated. Events and emotions are complete chaos, so the cross is a symbol of stability, and the circle is a symbol of hope. My compositions tell of confrontation. These are very personal experiences in the whirlwind of history.
Series "Serene sky, charred ground”, Night vision_7, «... held together this whole world...» Collage, paper, ink. 50х75 cm.
All copyright and reproduction rights are reserved by Ilona Kuznetsova.
Artwork may not be reproduced in any form without the artist's express written permission.
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Series "Serene sky, charred ground”, Night vision_9 «A dream during Christmas». Collage, paper, ink, gold leaf. 50х80 cm.
Series /Thresholds/ ~ Paths of unnecessary geometric shapes over a turbulent landscape ~ Collage, paper, ink. 60х84 cm.