In this interview we will dive into the world of art of artist Nadezhda Zemlyachenko, whose work is an amazing combination of old master techniques and a modern view of the world. Her inspiration, originating from Renaissance painting and Flemish still lifes, blossoms into unique paintings and experimental 3D compositions that have been recognised at international exhibitions. Today we explore her unique style, sources of inspiration and creative path.
Nadezhda, please share how your acquaintance with Old Master painting began and what particularly attracted you to working with tempera?
Quite by chance, I came across an advert on the Internet: ‘We can teach you to paint using the techniques of the old masters’. Of course, the paintings were marvellous, and I decided that if I had mastered the profession of a doctor, then, with a little effort and training, I too should be able to do it. That’s how I started painting using tempera. And why tempera? Because it was declared as a teaching material.
Why did you choose to copy works by Renaissance masters and Flemish still lifes? What does this experience give you as an artist?
Actually, I didn’t choose it, it was just in the training programme. But it’s no secret that we still look at paintings by Renaissance masters and can’t take our eyes off them. They are represented in all museums and are very expensive, which speaks about their recognition. Besides, there are not many such paintings on the market now. They are beautiful and inspiring. We look at them again and again.
What does this experience give me as an artist? Well, we learn from the greats. We copied and continue to copy their work. It takes a lot of effort to achieve the same mastery.
I look at my paintings now, made in the techniques of the old masters, and I can’t look away either. I want to look at them and look at them, they have some kind of inner magic, some kind of glow. It is simply incomprehensible, but you want to look at them.
What inspired you to combine realism painting with electroplating techniques?
What inspired me to do both is something special. Both old master technique paintings and galvanoplastic paintings. At first I created galvano paintings using this technique simply as art panels. They are very beautiful, very complicated and also take a long time to make. And then the thought occurred to me: why not combine them? I tried it, and the result pleased me. I plan to combine these two completely different types of art even more in the future. It may be something new for today, but it is very beautiful.
Tell us more about the process of creating your 3D plant compositions. How do you select materials, how are these harmonious images born?
It is a very painstaking process. You have to look at the world not just as ‘I’m going into the field to pick some flowers’, but look at it as a future part of your work, a sketch. First you see it in your head, you collect this image, then as if by chance you see it in nature. All these coloured boxes of poppies, blades of grass, branches, flowers, some leaves with an interesting texture…. And then the process of their copper-plating in the technique of electroplating begins. They are covered with a special solution, dropped into a galvanic bath, copper-plated, then polished, burnt and varnished. And only then I pour them on the base and start to assemble the composition. This is also a very complex and long process: to assemble, to destroy, to move, to combine by colour, by shade of patina. All this combination does not hold together, it ‘rides’, and every day I manage to glue 2-3 elements to the composition. Then they become immobile and the composition is assembled further. The result is always a little different than expected.
You describe the process of working with copper as meditative. What exactly happens inside you during this painstaking work?
It’s like I’m disconnected from everything around me. There are no thoughts, no other ideas. Just immersing myself in the work. It’s like meditation, nothing else is going on around me. Only inside, somewhere inside, in my head, in my consciousness, this composition is being assembled. It is changing all the time, somehow improving. It’s exactly a meditative process.
Your works combine nature, emotions and reflections on the eternal. What does this symbolic language mean to you, how do you find it?
Symbolism in paintings is very often present, and it is a kind of expression of your personal attitude towards something. Through symbols we convey to others what we want to say. About eternal things… Eternal truths – love, kindness, sympathy, faith, mutual help – and the negative sides are also here. How do I find this language? I look at other paintings and think: what did the person want to convey or not to convey? I compare it to my own perception. I think it is the same or different. That’s the kind of language, the kind of dialogue that happens inside. I think that every person who looks at least a little bit into this symbolism, into these paintings, will have something similar.
Nature is your main muse. How does it shape your outlook and influence your artistic decisions?
Actually, nature is not my most important muse. My main muse is the paintings of artists. And nature is an addition to them, to all this, to this worldview. I look at other artists, I just look at nature. I have a lot of flowers at my dacha, and every spring everything goes up, everything blooms, and then it goes away.
That’s how we are. That’s the way life is. I collect natural elements in spring, summer, autumn and even winter. And all this is embodied in my panels and paintings, and they are always one of a kind. You can never repeat them, because nature never repeats anything. Even if you really want to repeat the same picture, to make it to order, it will not work – it will be different.
What human values are reflected in your art? How important to you is honesty and openness in art and in relations with people?
Human values are always the same. And thoughts about eternal things are also the same: what will happen after we leave, what we will leave behind, what is valuable, what is not, what to pay attention to. Everyone has their own, but the eternal ones are always the same: love, friendship, mutual help, empathy.
Honesty plays a big role for me. I would not want to have relationships with dishonest people. And if I notice it, that person ceases to exist for me. And in art. In art, everything shows up anyway. When you look at a picture, you want to know if the artist is honest, if he wanted to say something. You want to get to know him, to know more about him. Or just pass by.
Which of your works do you consider key at the moment? Are there any works that you are particularly attached to?
I have two such key works that I am particularly attached to. They are a copy of Rembrandt’s ‘Man in the Golden Helmet’ and ‘Selfie in a Ukrainian Bomb Shelter’.
These are two big paintings that I’m not ready to part with just yet.
‘Selfie in a Ukrainian Bomb Shelter’ is the picture that won Golden Time Talent. It will still have its own story and sequel.
I have more ideas on the theme of war and these paintings will be done in the old masters tempera technique.
What does recognition, participation in international exhibitions and projects such as in Budapest and Zurich mean to you? Winning the Golden Time Talent competition and receiving certificates of artistic merit from the Liapin Museum, as well as participating in the Luxembourg Art Prize 2024? How does this affect your art?
It inspires me to do more work.
It means they are noticed, it means there is something in them.
It means that I belong to the part of artists that can develop and be noticed.
In general, it’s very pleasant, and it inspires me.
What is the next step in your artistic development? Do you have a dream that you are working towards as an artist?
Yes, I have a dream, maybe even a plan.
Of course, I want to paint paintings that will be liked. I want my paintings to touch and express such a theme, and to reproduce it in such a way with the help of the chosen technique that at serious exhibitions people will look at it and say: ‘I want this painting’. It’s as simple as that.
And, of course, I want to represent my work at international auctions where there are paintings by artists that are valued.
And, of course, I want my paintings to be bought.
