Lisa Dedkovskaia: Self-representation as protest
Lisa Dedkovskaia interviewed by Edoardo Schinco
Artworks can dazzle us, strike us, excite us, inspire us – even wound us. But, what about the artist behind the artwork? Here, Lisa Dedkovskaia answers to our questions, allowing us to enter into her creative forge: first steps, creative sources, headless bodies, her artistic conception - and more to discover.
Who are you?
Who am I. I don't know but the good thing is that you don't need the answer to keep going. So I'm just a person on my way. What's at the end of the road? Everyone knows and no one knows for sure. Doesn't matter, the main thing is the way should be interesting, with breathtaking views.
I'm 23 years old, originally from a small city near Moscow. Last year moved to Israel, and I am currently living here. But I already understood that it's not my country, just a point in the big journey. So, few more months and I'll be ready to try another place. Italy? Indonesia? Who knows, we will see.
Would you call yourself “an artist”? What kind of artist are you? What is art to you, and what is its main aim?
To be honest, I never call myself an artist. You know, there is a really harsh person inside you who always tells you that are not talented enough to call yourself an artist, that you are fake, that you should look at real artists and shut up. But it's enough for me when people call me an artist. I need attention and people confession, so when they say: "ok, girl, you are fucking talented", that replaces my own assessment. Paradoxically, it is easier to receive confession from other people than from yourself. Art for me is just a language with a larger vocabulary. The way to sublimate what I have inside and can't keep there.
When did you start your artistic activity? Is there something specific that firstly triggered you?
I started taking self-portraits about 4 years ago. Usually when I was feeling bad. When I managed to take out a good picture after few hours of dancing with different subjects and selfy-camera on my phone, I felt my inner tension easing down a bit. And through bad feelings there was some light and joy. Joy of creation.
What are your main artistic inspirations (not necessarily picture-related artists, but also philosophy, literature, or whatever you want)?
Subjects. All my works began with subjects. Ideas are connected with materials, textures, and human similarities with the inanimate.
What about the art influences - surrealism, maybe? I like the oniric feeling in photos. When you play by the rules of this reality but you almost inadvertently touch another.
It is clear that you’re not afraid to show your body. Are there artistic reasons that pushed you to resort to nakedness?
Firstly it wasn't "artistic" reasons. In my eighteen I was fond of yoga and esotericism. It meant that I was surrounded by people with a greater level of freedom and acceptance of one's body. I had in front of my eyes clear examples of how the human body can be a non-sexualized object. Just a body.
So, it was like my protest against society, proof of my total freedom. I wanted people to get used to photos of my whole body like they would have been to photos of my hand or my knee. Obviously, my reasons was already changing and they are still changing through all these years. I think the common thing connecting all my reasons is the protest, the desire to be free from social opinions, from the distinction of what is acceptable and what is not.
When people accepted my naked portraits, the most common compliment was "Your artworks is so impressive. They are not vulgar, not about erotica". Then, I started to think about sexuality and acceptance of it in the society. I started to make more provocative photos, more sexualised.
Now, since people are starting to accept this kind of photos, I am becoming calmer, and such protest is becoming less interesting for me. I'm looking for anaesthetics, for visual stories which I can tell without words. Finally, I'll start to get dressed.
Are you interested in gender studies? Is the centrality of body in your pictures connected somehow with gender studies or contemporary feminism?
No, no interest at all. I'm egocentric.
Your photos can be both with colors and black&white. How do you decide to take a color photo or a b&w one? Some artistic reason behind your choice?
There are two reasons for black and white photos, the one for the interview, and for the real world.
The first one is connected with emotion, mood, with the story. My choice of using black and white in photos boils down mostly to when I want to intensify the "weight" of the artwork.
The second one is that all my portraits are made using only my phone. It took me 3 years to start thinking about the technical aspects of photography. What about light? What about working with color? Black and white is a sort of placebo for bad images. Now I'm trying to pay more attention to these instruments and decide whether to use color or black and white before taking the photo. But shit happens anyway, I'm still a beginner.
It is easy to see that, in some of your pictures, the head or the face is erased, canceled, covered or somehow masked. What’s the meaning of this artistic choice?
I'm not the person who promotes body positivity and self-love. Cause I don't have it. I think it's visible in my photos. Strange poses, even ugly ones, tense atmospheres, acts of sadomasochism. But it is always based on contrast. Ugliness goes hand in hand with beauty.
One more thing is that we used to perceive people through their faces. So who am I without? Am I still a person? Am I hiding or exposing myself? I still don't know the answers and am not sure that I need them cause I just love the result - the picture.