anastasia Esik
Anastasia AKA Grotesque Faces is a Russian illustrator and painter currently based in Lisbon, Portugal.
Anastasis is a Russian illustrator currently based in Lisbon, Portugal. Otherwise known as ‘Grotesque Faces Art’ Anastasia has always had a passion for self-expression and particular topics such as loneliness, illness, and fear are what drive her artistic practice. Anastasia wishes to create imagery that lay on the fringes of what society deems attractive and move beyond it. She believes everything holds its own essence and has its own beauty and we need to learn to love and accept different formations of it. When it comes to GROTESQUE representation the liberty of creation is endless.
A chat with anastasia…
Was being an artist a conscious choice or was it something that came very naturally to you?
For me, it was very natural because I painted for as long as I can remember. Art always walked side by side with me. But dedicating myself more into it more professionally came when I studied fashion design. Studying fashion illustration made me come to realize that the liberty of creation is huge.
Would you say you've always had a natural inclination toward art or was it an interest you developed over time?
As art was always part of my life and I always searched for new ways of expressing it, it was all very natural but I keep developing it a lot over time.
Can you define your art? If so, what is it you want to communicate with it? If anything at all?
My art challenges society to look at the topics that are mostly known as something «unattractive» at a different angle. I think that creativity and psychosis often go hand in hand, or for that matter, genius and madness. What I usually paint or feel, positive or negative, is all part of our life. And we can find beauty in everything, that's what I want to reach in my expression.
How important is colour to you? If it is please explain, if not please explain.
In my early work color was something that I used to catch the person's attention to think about what I want to show in
a certain painting. I used a lot of primary colors, like red, black, or leaving the background white to concentrate the
person on what really matters, it also describes my inner world at that certain time. In my recent work, we
can clearly see that it changes a lot accordingly. So it is certainly a way to express better what I feel at the moment.
Who has been your single biggest artistic and non-artistic inspiration?
Society. People. I am an observer. A good one. So my artistic inspirations are people and non-artistic are their
emotions, positive or negative.
Do you spend time investigating new techniques and researching the up-and-coming talent in the art world? Or do
you just focus on your own practice and organically developing your skill over time?
I do a lot of research of course mostly on books or my favorite artist. I read a lot about the history of art and great
artist biography. Also, I investigate a lot on social media, and in the near future, I will study in an art school so I look
forward to investigating and learning even more.