Natalya Lobanova describes her work as “mostly doodles
on pastel paper”, and while that is without doubt very accurate, there is a
little more to it. Born in Kazakhstan, she grew up in London and moved to
Edinburgh in 2011 to study Philosophy and Politics. Lobanova draws - she draws
everyday situations, she doodles imaginary scenarios and illustrates thoughts, and
she is excellent at what she does. It didn’t take the blogosphere long to catch
wind of her artwork once Lobanova began posting her art online. She then started
her art project, the blog happy 2 b sad,
in 2011; a collection of her work, it features mostly pen on characteristically
pink paper.
Before coming to Edinburgh, Lobanova did an art
foundation at Central Saint Martins in London, specialising in painting. Are
there certain advantages to being an artist who does not study art anymore? “A
degree in art essentially buys you the time to do nothing but art, which is
actually a huge privilege and amazing thing to do”, she says. ”It also buys you
the opportunity to surround yourself with amazing, creative people. But in my
experience, it can also be a bubble and you forget that the outside world
exists. On a personal level, I think it was very good for me to attend an
academic University and be a little outside of my comfort zone and study things
that I don't feel I naturally excel at.” Lobanova adds: “Also, I don’t have to
deal with crits or having to explain why I chose pink paper to do my drawings
on. It was the only paper I had at the time, okay?”
Yet,
balancing art and academia can be challenging at times: “I'm really lucky to
have been able to keep the ball rolling whilst doing this degree because even
when you find the time to make art formally, once you're out of the habit it
just sort of slips out of your life, even if you're a naturally creative
person. Your creative energy is used up in different ways.” Has her degree in
Philosophy and Politics influenced her art? “I don't feel that it's explicitly
influenced my art”, Lobanova says, “I don't actively try and keep my degree and
my artwork separate but I wouldn't want my work to have too many inaccessible
obscure academic themes. I don't want to alienate people.” Her work is witty,
it is pretty, and it does not pretend to be something it’s not – it is easily
accessible; it’s user-friendly, and proudly so. And whether she lives in London
or Edinburgh, “every place is a good place to make art”, Lobanova says.
Lobanova’s first exhibition, a solo-exhibition, took
place at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, US, last fall. Her second
exhibition just started in Tampico, Mexico, sending happy 2 b sad on a physical journey around the globe following the
virtual one. Does she have any concrete plans for where she would like the
future to take her? “You can't really plan an artistic career, you just do all
you can and hope for the best. I've been really lucky. My plan is to just do as
much as I can”, Lobanova says.
Talking
about the creative process, she explains: “Sometimes I crawl out of bed in the
middle of the night to jot something down and other times I just sit down and
decide to make some art. I wouldn't say either process is better than the other,
I just do whatever”, and she adds, “That’s a technical term”. Introspection or
interaction, which inspires her most? “I think my drawings are the wittiest
fragments of my inner monologue, so I suppose it's both”, Lobanova explains.
The Internet has undoubtedly played a big part for her
art – how does she see its role in the art world? Lobanova says, “I think it's
amazing because in some ways it's socialised the art industry - you don't
necessarily need to know anyone to enter it and to gain momentum. It's made it
more accessible. I think if it were not for the Internet, I would feel entirely
disassociated with the art world”. Yet, at the same time, “this constant source
of information and stream of images and super quick moving 'trends' in art can distract
people from making artwork that it genuine to themselves”.
Does
she have any advice for anyone who would like to express themselves visually,
but who has never experimented with art before? “You have nothing to lose by
trying”, Lobanova says. “If you do it and it's rubbish then no one needs to see
it”, and she adds: “Or maybe you're just really ahead of your time and your
work will be rediscovered posthumously and that will be your legacy.”
Find Natalya's work at happy2bsad.com.
Originally written for The Student.
