“Photography is to me the perfect language to channel my creativity, there are no frames in it”, says Ustinia Smolievskaya, 22. As a Contemporary Art School student, the Russian artist is constantly experimenting to push back the boundaries of the medium. “I use a lot of analog tools: printing, scanning, drawing on a photo, but I also process my images in Photoshop”, she tells us. Inspired by the chimeras of her subconscious, the photographer imagines a surreal world, where the absurdity of dreams influence reality. Dark and sensual, her universe showcases naked, contorted bodies, frozen in hypnotic trances. By playing with our perceptions, with the very shapes of human morphology, Usania Smolievskaya sketches insane narratives, as graphic as they are exciting. “I believe that the main criterion in creativity is sincerity, without it, nothing will work”, she concludes.
© Ustinia Smolievskaya
