Interview with Nastya Norway
- Cista Arts team
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
An interview with Nastya Norway: Visual artist and illustrator
What initially sparked your interest in pursuing art, and how has your journey evolved since then?
My human creativity began in a children’s art studio, where the teacher was the wonderful local artist Sergei Rodionov. The atmosphere there was unbelievable – about painting. We went to go to plein-air painting and gave tea party with bread and homemade jam. On Christmas Eve every year we drew decorations on huge sheets of paper. And our classroom was immersed in the atmosphere of something dreamy and magical. After annual frisky celebration, we took down the decorations and threw them from a nearby bridge into the river. This atmosphere sparked my interest in art forever.I am graduated from the Nizhny Novgorod State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering with a degree in design (2011) and subsequently began her career as an artist, complementing her education with participation in the Proscenium performance laboratory (2017) of the Provmyza art group. I am organized several solo exhibitions, including "Northernness" at the Loosen Art Gallery in Rome (2025) and “Details" at the Record Cultural Center in Nizhny Novgorod (2023). My work received the A-list Society Award in 2022. In my art explores corporeality and internal vulnerabilities at the intersection between the intimate and the social. My works in painting and graphics, as well as digital collage, and experiments with street interventions.
In my art explores corporeality and internal vulnerabilities at the intersection between the intimate and the social. My works in painting and graphics, as well as digital collage, and experiments with street interventions.
Can you tell us about a specific piece of your artwork that holds particular significance to you, and what inspired its creation?
A particularly important drawing for me is "Cocoon". It's connected to a personal experience. Cocoon is an attempt to peer into the world of a person suffering from schizophrenia. My brother. Through the drawing, I tried to feel and comprehend his movements and understand why he was like that. I saw the cause of his schizophrenia in total depression and lack of attention. And years of such a life simply hid him from the world. It was always very difficult to get to his feelings; it seemed to him that no one cared. He was so used to it and found himself trapped. The cocoon separated us. On the one hand, he was so alienated, and it seemed like he didn't need other people at all, and on the other, he was always "screaming" about needing attention. And he often repeated the phrase, "I don't care, I don't care." Meaning that no one cared about his troubles.One day he said, "I'm not in a cocoon." And that was a key moment for me. The image was finally formed. As often happens, a person with schizophrenia speaks almost without emotion, and the essence of the sentence remains. If you listen closely, you'll hear everything in it: past, present, and future. This was it, the essence of his life.
The series continued when he passed away. That's how the drawing "Cry" came about. I tried to depict the experience of his death. The drawing depicts the brother of the one in the cocoon. They lived together almost their entire lives. And in the last two years, they separated. That's when tragedy struck. And there wasn't even a chance to say goodbye. The technique of using a naive phrase within the drawing intensifies the effect of pain. It seems to be spoken from the past, when they were both still children. Birth, childhood, and adolescence were spent together. A naive phrase, spoken out of pain and screaming, could not have come true.
How do you navigate the balance between staying true to your artistic vision and experimenting with new techniques or styles?
I'm not in a hurry and always cherish an idea for a long time. There are drawings that were rethought after a couple of years. It allows me to save myself.
What role do you believe art plays in society, and how do you envision your work contributing to the artistic dialogue?
I am participating in festivals and uses my artistic efforts and communication with representatives of different countries. Thus, I am expanding the influence of her method on the local culture, giving different viewers opportunities to get into a dialogue with the artist (through the method of mediation), and they can participate in the creation of her artworks. My soars to new heights starting with local context and getting to the international level.
My soars to new heights starting with local context and getting to the international level.
Are there any upcoming projects or themes that you're excited to explore in your future artworks, and if so, what draws you to these ideas?
Now I'm thinking about the topic of deep isolation from the outside world and options for getting out of it.
How do you hope your art will impact viewers, and what message or emotion do you aspire to convey through your creative expressions?
For me, my drawings are an attempt to depict a suppressed feeling, an inner experience, an imprint of the soul.
Comments