Yuliya Lanina
Artist Statement
I use painting, collage, and sculpture to create characters whose fictional stories I later explore through the mediums of film and animation. These characters are often half-human, half-animal, and they tend to share a sense of brokenness, which comes from having survived a traumatic experience of some sort.
I draw from many sources to create these characters: from demigods of Greek mythology to Russian fairy tales, which are filled with fantastic beings deeply rooted in paganism, mysticism, and symbolism. My creatures and their stories move freely between logical and illogical, realistic and illusory, predictable and surprising, representing life that can only be lived, but never understood.
I often collaborate with dancers, musicians and technical developers, creating multidisciplinary works that can be experienced outside of traditional exhibition venues.
While At Headlands
During my time at Headlands I am planning to work on my one-person performance, in which I will tell a semi-autobiographic tale about a little girl’s quest to save her mother. I will be using projected videos, mechanical toys, music boxes, and other artworks as aids for a multi-sensory presentation. The performance will last 20 minutes.
The tone of the narrative will fluctuate between tragedy and hope in the attempt to show that even in the direst circumstances one can find beauty, humor and happiness. At the end of performance, the audience would be invited on the stage to view and operate the sculptures and see the artworks up close.
Selected Video
