Elena Gileva
“My continuous interest with historical artefacts drew me to clay - it is a very expressive and malleable material that almost seems to contain all the layers of history and human civilisations within its make up.”
Interview by: Natalia Gonzalez Martin
Could you tell us a bit about yourself and your background? Where did you study?
I was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russia at a time of rapid change - abandon and scarcity , full of contrasts and contradictions. Saint-Petersburg is a city full of culture, people obsessively take pride in their heritage and wealth of world class art collections available. Even if they rarely go to see them! I spent my childhood in a seemingly endless jungle of soviet standardised buildings whilst enjoying the privilege of The Hermitage's extensive assembly of artefacts and frequent ballet performances at the Mariinsky Theatre. Contrary to the perception of such pursuits in the UK , it is not about class or wealth : stemming from a long lasting soviet concept that one should be cultured to be a worthy citizen of the world. Regardless of understanding and art education , spending hard saved rubles one shall go and experience 'culture' hoping through that encounter to be more 'enlightened'. However with this high aim in mind the society of 90's Russia seemed to be on a mission to wipe out the tradition, culture and heritage and replace it with the oil, the glitz with a new car. It is with these contradictions that I passed my formative years. In a strange way , more than 11 years have passed but they are the ones that stay with me. My art education began in a soviet style art college. From then onwards it is a spiral of BFA in Paris ( Parsons Paris School of Art & Design ) , study abroad in Vancouver at Emily Carr University and multiple other professional and personal experiences culminating in me coming to the UK to do an MA at the RCA. And to my own surprise I have stayed in London for way longer than initially planned!
Tell us a bit about how you spend your day/studio routine? What is your studio like?
Routine is not a word I would use to describe my studio time. I find myself split between multiple things , most of the time juggling a few commitments during one day. Past few years after completing MA have been a hectic balancing act between multiple projects and work, a tension between commercial and opportunistic. It usually feels like a privilege to have an extended period of time where I can explore ideas and materials rather than produce towards a deadline. I have had a studio around south London for the past 3 years, my recent move being to a small unit at the ASC by Burgess Park.
Whilst I love experimenting with other materials, ceramics has predominant role in my making so the studio is very much set up for working with clay : kiln , work benches, glaze material buckets etc. I am fascinated by all aspects of making with clay so I end up spending quite a bit of time developing and testing glazes. However currently I am giving more attention to the textile aspect of my work, as well as a few metal ideas on the way - experimenting with things like dying , weaving and quilting that are results of the same thoughts I have and obsession with materiality and making with my hands. If I have the luxury of spending the whole day at the studio, I do! Ceramics is an all encompassing practice and material that requires time and patience , everything always will take longer than you think.
Ritualistic Objects, 2017
Achillesheel, 2017
Looking at your work, it is only evident that you are confident working with clay - How did you discover the material and what are the qualities it has that allow you to convey the subjects present in your work?
My practice is a mosaic of elements, meanings and materials with clay and ceramic tradition at centre stage. Physicality of the work is as crucial for the narrative, as the underlying story is fundamental to the creation and its appearance. Weaving coils of clay, taking them through transformative processes as if layering meanings and symbols in a pattern.
Whilst my BFA was very interdisciplinary and spanned across different disciplines and materials, working with clay quickly became an important material within my work. Whilst ceramics was an elective once a week, we were lucky to have an inspirational tutor Kristin McKirdy who was an important figure in my interest in clay. My continuous interest with historical artefacts drew me to clay - it is a very expressive and malleable material that almost seems to contain all the layers of history and human civilisations within its make up. I have worked with clay in various ways since about 2010 , at first not realising the weight of ceramic tradition it bears. It is when I had an amazing chance to spend 3 months working as an artist-in-residence at a Shigaraki Ceramic Sculpture Park in Japan - I realised that what I do is not purely sculpture made out of clay, but ceramics.
Your work is charged with historical references, what are the periods or styles that have had a stronger influence in your practice?
I draw on the multiplicity within traditional Russian literature, theatre and ornamentation, with a desire to set a site of cultural connotations, symbols and forms. Expanding my ceramic sculptural practice into a wider field of iconography and symbolism I bring staging to enrich the uncanny universe of the objects. As is characteristic of a fairy tale, I wish to create a secondary world that is both reality and an alternate present to our own. I intend the theatricality of a work to evoke the pastiche of Sergei Diaghilev’s productions and the enigmatic arrangements to echo the symbolism of Parajanov’s cinematic creations. This all is both a sculpture in itself as well as a backcloth for wondrous to take place. It is an exchange of natural or architectural backdrops for conceptual landscapes of colour, font and form that I am after.
Whilst the culture I was surrounded growing forms the base of my thought and inspiration, it is also the diverse multicultural experience outside of that framework that finds their way into my pieces. I pick symbols, objects and ideas on my travels and through reading that all contribute to a story behind each piece. There is no particular period as such that is central to my inspiration , it is rather the plethora of references at the same time. I collect catalogues from historical collections ,as well as have an extensive photo archive from all the museums around the world I have visited collating a pastiche digital compilation. Ceramics is significant not only as a material but also as a tradition - it is an incredible witness of the transit of cultural references throughout the world and generations - appropriation of ornament and technique stemming all across the trade routes.
Cultural Landscape
The Bid Drip, 2016
You have lived in several countries including the UK, Russia, Canada, how have these different cultures affected and translate into your work?
I believe in an interconnectedness of culture and human perception, and this belief has only been reinforced by living and working in different countries. There is something undeniably special about the differences of contexts and environment in each given place : cultural codes and references, tradition and history , language. However I am always on the lookout for the transformative and shared, things that unite us through intertwined references. Whether in terms of food or museum objects. I am fascinated how one can come from completely different backgrounds and perceive a reference of their own - for example a western eye will associate one of my carved stone sculptures with Celtic ornaments, whilst on the other side of the work it is reminiscent of Chinese carved marbles from the Temple of Heaven for example.
The notion of culture being singular and distinct, completely individual within contemporary political borders of a state are a fallacy in historical terms - no development has occurred without exchange , trade and borrowing and re-interpretation of ideas and techniques. Russia itself is a perfect example - perceived as a country of single identity it is comprised of as many as 160 different ethnic groups and indigenous peoples each with complex histories, languages , religions and material histories.
Could you tell us about how you have coped during the COVID-19 Pandemic? In what way has lockdown affected your work and productivity?
Covid has been a strange time and in a way it is still ongoing , affecting my life and work plans.Whilst the strict lockdown has ended I personally don't feel like it is completely over. For example I am currently unable to start my artist in residency at a museum in La Borne , France. Whilst the focus of the project was on collaborating with a local maker in their studio, exploring local materials and techniques the current situation has led us to attempt and work at a distance, with me remaining in London.
Lockdown itself has been a rollercoaster - it started with a heightened anxiety period inflicted by the stress of the unknown as all work and projects dried up, and got postponed ‘indefinitely’. However after the first month it proved to be a very grounding experience - I am a type of hyper anxious person who keeps myself busy in order to get through the day. And in the long run it has paid off- I was able to enjoy the slower pace and have time to work on the more experimental side of my practice - explore quilting, weaving and natural dying. And once everyone was able to re-adjust projects came through , postponed things got rescheduled for next year and the generous Arts Council Hardship fund helped me find peace and concentrate on new material research.
Current Landscape of Uncertainty, 2019
What artwork have you seen recently that has resonated with you?
I don't usually look much at artworks as a source of inspiration - it is from books , museum artefacts, plants and objects surrounding me that I draw my inspiration from. Also during covid it hasn't been so easy to see art in person! One of the things that have resonated with me - an online exhibition by Camden Art Centre - The Botanical Mind. Especially the podcast accompanying it felt very relevant - a very new way to connect with research and experiencing ‘an exhibition’.
Is there anything else in the pipeline?
Quite a few projects have been postponed till next year , such as an exhibition at Faenza Museum of Ceramics. However since the lockdown has been lifted things have been starting up again. For example, a few of my recent pieces will be shown at the Cosmoscow Art fair with Fabula gallery in Moscow, Russia this September. I am also looking forward to a really exciting project next year at the EKWC Sunday Morning centre in the Netherlands - I see it as an incredible chance to work with clay on a monumental scale with access to industrial facilities that are one of the best in the world.
All images are courtesy of the artist
Date of publication: 02/09/20
