5 Things We Learned... Liliya Lifanova

Liliya Lifanova is a multidisciplinary practice that encompasses performance, video, painting, drawing, and sculpture. She received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL (2010), and the Fulbright Fellowship in Installation Art (2011-2012).

Here are 5 Things We Learned about Liliya.

What made you...you?

Good question! Part of it are the things that I’ve read, the things I have seen, things that I’ve lived through, the places I’ve been, the people I’ve met, etc.? I am always changing and in flux. Yet, there is something consistent that I cannot explain. The ancient Greeks called it psūkhḗ, in Russian it’s душа…it seems to be the decisive factor but its something immaterial and untraceable. It cannot be represented.

When are you happiest?

This might sound severe but I am happiest alone in my studio.

Would you rather have a muse or be a muse?

I would rather have a muse, definitely!

Who do you admire?

Gosh, its tough to narrow it down… I have so many idols!? Chief among them (because I have admired her the longest) is Agnes Martin. She lived with grace the paradox, the two extremes: rejecting the world and the ego and affirming them.

What is important?

Everything. We are part of a delicately structure, every infinitesimal thing, everything is interconnected and plays a role in our experience of ourselves, of the world and how we act in it. I think artists feel this most intensely because it is our main activity in life to interpret our experiences. Art practice is a kind of translation. Sometimes it’s the smallest things that are critical. The quality of light or water, our attitude/mood, or what we lack, etc.

Portrait and all images provided by Liliya.