Interview by Jimon

1-Where did you grow up and where do you currently reside and work?I grew up in a little city, two hours outside of Kiev, called Cherkasy. I spend majority of my time split between Ukraine, Europe, and the States! I’m extremely fortunate and lucky with hard work and persistence to be able to travel around the world with my work.

2-What school did you attend and do you think it was necessary?I attended the Kiev National University of Technology and Design. I was able to complete my schooling with the highest honor, which in Kiev is considered a red diploma, or Summa Cum Laude in the US. I do believe receiving an education is absolutely necessary if you know the direction you are taking afterwards.

3-I am enthralled by your stick figure series how did that start?  It all started with a game between myself and a few friends during my University days where we were quite bored with a specific topic in class at the time and decided to make up a game of sexual stick figures and each person had to continue drawing different positions with the figures until one person ran out of ideas. I had saved a lot of my school notebooks and happen to look through one and found this game inside of it. So, I decided to make a painting regarding the different stick figures in various sexual positions. Eventually, I got a bit bored of paintings and thought how cool would it be if I took this stick figure out of the paper, and made it life size as a sculpture and take it a step further and put different emoji’s as the heads of the stick figures to symbolize my friends from back then!

4-Why some of the stick figures you make are inside or exiting a condom packet?  Isn’t that how it works in life.

5-The stick figures you make can be very sexual in nature. What is the reason behind that?That’s what makes it so exciting. If you take a look at real life, whether it be meeting your soul-mate, business dealings, or even the government  isn’t it safe to say it all seems like a bunch of stick figures being sexual in their own nature! One way or another, everyone everyone gets f&$k*d!

6-How do you describe success as an artist?  The biggest reward for me is watching how ones mood can shift and change after observing my art pieces toward a positive light. I enjoy making people happy, I’m more of an entertainer in life anyways!

7-Have you ever come across a piece of art that you could not stop looking at?  I don’t think it’s possible to narrow it down to just one piece. I’ve seen pieces of art that were so simple yet attraction was inevitable because of the energy it gave out, and then I’ve seen certain art which seemed very complex, lots of time planned into making the piece, and you see it once and become confused. I think my most memorable time was absorbing the masterpiece of Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Last Supper” at The Royal Academy of Arts in London.

8-What advice would you give putative collectors?  Build more museums and create more collections! Art makes our life more interesting and desirable.

9-Best advice you ever received in regards to your courier as an artist?  Someone once told me if you think trying is hard, wait until you get the bill for doing nothing! This motivated me to take art more serious and on a much more passionate level, because I knew I was put on this earth to do something great! This was my calling.

10-Do you have a place/person/thing that you visit for inspiration?  My parents. Seeing what we came from and how modest yet humble they live pushes me to greater heights I never imagined. Everything I do, I focus on making the world a better place including giving back to my family.

11-If you could have dinner with 3 artists living/dead who would be at your table?  This one is easy! Leonardo Da Vinci, Salvador Dali, and Jeff Koons.

12-Name three things you can’t live without in your studio?  This would probably be the items needed to produce my sculptures! I would say it would be very difficult without stainless steel, fiber glass, and electricity to all of my tools!

13-How would someone find you on social media?On Instagram @condeslina