With her consistent recontextualization of everyday objects and natural elements, Tamara Obukhova (@toucheconomy) plays with our perceptions and introduces an element of unexpectedness in the most
Would you introduce yourself to our readers?
My name is Tamara Obukhova, I’m 21 years old and I was born in Kazakhstan, where I lived there until I was 16. Then I moved to Czech Republic. Perhaps, my art was affected by moving to another country, where I was left alone without my usual surroundings. Now is more due to the fact that I began to listen to myself and understand what I really like.
To what degree your studies and upbringing influence your art?
I have felt an affinity with art since I was a child. All this time I’ve been exploring different sides of it. I graduated from university last year as an interior designer, but this activity has become more and more mundane over time. I studied art theory in general and also came across various types of art in university. Now my artistic practice is more based in photography, where I can capture a hybrid of meanings of different objects in one concept. My creativity is the result of my own experience, individuality, observation and also of course my studies.
Your art lives in the intersection between photography, make up, fashion, sculpture and performance. How did you develop your aesthetic?
In my art I try to mix the aspects of life that I find interesting: it’s very exciting to combine opposite meanings and visually talk about what doesn’t fit into ordinary words and forms. A couple of objects are enough to get carried away with this game, in which I can create something unusual and play with our perception.
What's your relationship with social media, especially regarding your work?
Social media is one of the important parts of my creativity. Now it is the main way for me to publish and distribute my art. It cannot but influence creativity. I can interact with people, with different types of art, study it and be inspired by this.
What is the most thought-provoking and challenging image you took in your opinion?
I think it was an image of a purse made of nails.
Why do you use natural elements in your work?
Natural elements are some of the most inspiring and available materials. Each component of nature is absolutely unique, which is fraught with the unknown, the unexplored, it’s something constantly changing and I always want to capture it in a moment that will never happen again.
What would you like to evoke with your images?
I just show the world from my own perspective. I transform objects from the real world to endow them with an element of unexpectedness - and fill the reality around me with it.
What is your relationship with the natural world?
Very strong. Nature gives me an incomparable calmness, because there is no worldly vanity here. Returning to nature, I return to my natural state of harmony. Natural world is definitely one of the main sources of inspiration.
Is sustainability something you are referencing with your images?
I try to create something from materials that I already have at home or outdoors. One of my principles in art is to create as many ideas as possible from the same things or materials.
Does irony have a role in your process?
Yes, I think my works ridicule stereotypes, discards unnecessary seriousness and show the meaning of things from a different angle.
What art inspires you?
The one that makes me feel something, an emotion.
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