Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Varvàra Fern. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Varvàra thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

My work is based on two things such as working with imagination and working with life models in the traditions of figurative sculpture. Sculpting images from my mind and anatomy are the things that I am constantly learning.

I have been studying figurative sculpture since I was thirteen and I still see it as one of the main parts of my art. Most of my artworks include human figures or animals, and every time I sculpt them, I use my knowledge of anatomy, pictures and life models to make my sculptures look realistic, and so it has the anatomical foundation that people can believe in. Even though I have a general knowledge of anatomy, I realize that there is always something more to learn when I start a new piece. I try to figure out how the muscles or bones would look like in a specific pose or how animal bodies and skeletons work, and every time I think I know enough, I face a new challenge in my practice where I need more knowledge.

Working with imagination is harder than it might sound. It takes a lot of effort to let the walls in my mind come down to tell myself “yes it can look like that” or “yes, it is possible”. It is always about pushing the boundaries in my own mind to let myself do more than I already can and to help myself to be more creative. Saying yes to new ideas, colors, shapes, scales, etc. even if it seems impossible to achieve at first. At the same time, I continue shaping Ideas in my mind and trying to find a better way to show what I actually want to say with my art and to find ways to make my projects come true. Even though pushing boundaries of my imagination and shaping ideas might sound like opposites, they walk side by side when I work on my projects and it helps me to stay creative and come up with new ideas, even when at first it feels like there is nothing that I can come up with.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am an artist and a sculptor based in Philadelphia and I create figurative art using clay, resin and plaster.

I realized that I want to be a sculptor very early in my life. My parents gave me clay when I was around 2 years old. I started sculpting and immediately got fascinated by that. I have always had clay in my hands and never stopped sculpting. My mother noticed my keen interest and brought me to my first sculpture class when I was 5. Years later I entered the Moscow Central Art School where I studied figurative art. After graduation I attended the Surikov University of Art in Moscow and transferred to PAFA (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts).

I create sculptures inspired by various themes that capture my attention. Some of my art is a reflection on my own life experiences, and some originates from my sense of fascination and an irresistible desire to explore emotions, an idea or an experience resulting in an independent series of artworks such as the “Travel series” and the “Bulldog series”.

The “Travel series” is the largest series of works that I have. This is one of the most important projects I have done so far. It was inspired by my travel experience and reflects my fascination with both emotional and physical journeys, and the beauty I see in road landscapes and their elements.

The “Bulldog series” stems from my love for bulldogs and from the memories of two English bulldogs that I had when I was a kid. I spent a significant part of my life with the bulldogs and they are my favorite dog breed. I find them funny, charming, and charismatic. I think they are absolutely unique in their behavior and habits and I try to show other people the way I feel about these great dogs.

I work in oil based clay. I’ve been sculpting with oil based clay since my childhood and this material is like a language that I fluently speak, as it allows me to give form to all my ideas. Oil based clay is one of the best materials to make casts. So, this medium is perfect to shape images and further experiment with other materials casting my pieces in resin, plaster, and bronze.

Right now. I am working on some new sculptures. I am working on some bulldog sculptures, independent pieces and I am also going to start working on a new series of works called “Fairy Tales”.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me the most rewarding aspect of making art is the therapeutic effect it gives to me. There is an official term such as “art therapy”, but being an artist I have access to my own way of art therapy 24/7! My art is not only a way to express my emotions, but also to live through them and through my life experiences. This can really help me reduce emotional tension and to figure out why I am feeling certain emotions, if I don’t understand their origins. Expressing emotions in my art also helps me to live through emotions that are hard to deal with in real life. For example, making some of my sculptures helped me to go through the fury I had from a personal trauma, and it helps me understand my emotional condition at a particular moment . Even if I can’t realize it myself at first, I can still see the mood of the sculptures that I create, and it allows me to look deeper into my mental condition.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I remember how I had a conversation with a non-creative person and I really struggled trying to explain why I chose sculpture as my career, but that conversation made me think of how I could explain why I make art to other people.

I literally started making sculptures earlier than I got the ability to remember things. I had to ask my mother when I started doing that cause I just didn’t remember that myself. Her answer was that I got fascinated with sculpting when she gave me clay for the first time, which was the time when I was a little less than two years old. Ever since that time I have been sculpting all the time and could never stop. It is just one of my desires that has always been with me and I never knew life without clay in my hands. Every time I don’t sculpt or craft something, I end up scratching my nails and fingers and sometimes I don’t even notice that until they start to bleed. Once I even had a thought that if I would ever get jailed and would have nothing around me for crafting or sculpting, I would start ripping off pieces of fabric from my robe just so I could craft something out of them.
Art is not just something that came to my life at one point and stayed there, but it is something that has always been my life and I create sculptures because that is what I have been doing almost since the moment of my birth. I make art not because I chose to, but because art is my life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.varvarart.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/varvara_fern_art/