"Hey Taja, it's great to have you! Could you please start with telling us a little bit about yourself?"

I'm a visual artist originally from Belarus, currently based in Prague, Czech Republic. I work mostly with mediums like photography, drawing, mixed media. In my projects, I'm focused on the conception and visual. In the project "Remote", I was collaborating with a designer who made 3d renders for me.

(I was born and growing up in Grodno, Belarus)

"How has growing up in Grodno influenced you as an artist?"

Grodno is a city in Belarus close to the Polish border. It‘s a post-soviet territory, full of contrast, filled with the ghosts of dictatorship.  On my teenager times, I had a lot of friends from an underground and creative community which was super small. We supported and inspired each other, dreaming about a better and more free future. Post-Soviet culture and the 90s in general has had a big influence on my art. My motherland is still an important topic for me and I would come back to it in my projects.

"How has digitalization inspired you as an artist? What do you think the advent of technology offers(or limits) the world of art?"

Digitalization excites me, in both negative and positive sides. I love nature and naturalness. Fast-growing digitalization alerts me a little bit. It's a way to reconcile with this fact.Through analysis and discovering the topic, I gradually accept inevitable changes in the world.

"What references are you looking to or what inspires you to create new works?"

Often my work start from an idea, personal impulses, emotions, thoughts. Inspiration also comes from processes around me, it's organically coming from daily life. Often the trigger is something that resonated with me, personal themes, passion to create. Art is a way of communication in some way. It's also a result of the process of self-expression.

"How has the lockdown period affected you as an artist? What impact do you think it's had on the art world?"

During the lockdown period, the impact of connecting the world on-line and off-line has significantly strengthened. Lockdown was an impulse to discovering new ways of creation, working remotely, and adaptation in the context of the new rules.

"You've recently worked withThe Fabricant, who we interviewed and love also, could you tell us more about the process of digital fashion?"

Developing the area of digital fashion could help to find a solution of ecological problems that connected with fashion production. It could help to make fashion production more sustainable. In the context of the ever-increasing tendencies of digitalization, growth of digital fashion area is a logical process I think. It's more about programming, digital designing and less about working with real materials and models. In general, the biggest question is if people get used to this non-tactility online experience.

"Thank you so much for this inspiring chat, Taja!"