Supported Structures in 4 pictures and 4 questions

On January 26, ARTNOW curatorial team presents a new project — the Supported Structures exhibition by Anastasia Fainberg. A one-day featuring sculptural installations will take place at the recently opened Astry bakery in Limassol. Exclusively for ARTNOW Magazine, the artist will showcase four favourite projects and provide insights by answering four questions about her work.

Anastasia Fainberg has gained recognition for her intricate still lifes. Within them, everyday objects appear to float in the air, intertwining in a mysterious way. It's almost as if you've unexpectedly turned around and found yourself surprised by a world where things live their own lives. As the artist herself admits, her work is an opportunity for the objective world to have a voice. In the Supported Structures exhibition, Anastasia uses bread as a foundation to talk about the feelings linking us to home, such as hospitality, comfort, support, warmth, freedom, security, confidence and energy.

— Artist, product photographer, or set designer — how do you define yourself?

In all these cases, I am defining myself as a visual artist because everything I touch will be influenced by my vision. My practise includes all of this: art, set design, photography.

— What is more important in your work: color, texture, volume, or weight? What are the strangest objects you have ever worked with?

Everything is important, it depends on the idea. I usually consider all of this: colour, texture, volume.

I think I can call all this character of the object. I pay a lot of attention to function, sometimes to taste, sometimes smell. Speaking about strange objects, I think it was a shower handle and candle extinguisher

— In what state or place do you feel most inspired, and where do you get ideas for new works?

I find inspiration when I sense energy around me. At times, achieving that energy involves engaging in activities that help me relax, such as taking a walk or meeting new people for a conversation. As for ideas, I conduct research on thoughts that spontaneously come to mind and analyse everything happening in my surroundings. Sometimes, inspiration strikes from unexpected sources, like a film, song, or lecture on topics unrelated to my work

— How has Cyprus influenced your creative views?

Cyprus is a transformative place for me. It is a calm place, and it significantly influences my concentration, helping me make new discoveries and progress further in my development. The beautiful nature is present year-round, so I always find something new for myself. Moreover, there are many diverse and intriguing artists here, which is also important to me.

Interaction

The idea for this sculpture came to me when I was trying to revive weakened flowers. The life of cut flowers is limited in time, so I wanted to give them some fresh breath. This sculpture includes different parts of fruits and flowers that do not work without each other and form a new organism.

Blanca portrait

This is a work from a project called adaptation. In the photo, there is a sculpture made of fruits and flowers that grow in a small village in Spain. The idea for this project came to me a long time ago: I travelled to different places and collected portraits of its inhabitants. Here, the objects serve as a transmitter of information about the place and its character

Invitation

The idea for this sculpture came to me when I wanted to gather all my friends together, to feel cozy. Here, everything is aimed at transporting us to moments of joy, and in the sculpture, there are objects that connect us with these feelings: delicious food, flowers, candles.

Tingle

I love to walk around and find subjects for my sculptures, and once I encountered this red vegetable. I saw something very tactile in it. This thing from the vegetable, became a container for emotions, a portrait of sense, and other objects in the composition help to amplify it.

by Marta Sakharova