When did it all start? Tell us about your first approach to sculpture, your first artwork, and the moment that marked the beginning of this journey.

I think it always starts in early childhood when one’s conciosness starts to develop. An artist interprets the world so his experiences and how he digests them ultimately becomes his art. But for most of my life I wasn’t doing any art and was only an art admirer. I started painting when I felt I needed an outlet and it became an instrument like mediation. Sculpture wasn’t on my radar either and I started to learn figurative sculpture because I thought it could help me with my painting. But once I got more confident I realised that there is so much freedom when you can use virtually anything to create 3 d shapes. And things started to emerge almost unconsciously. I knew exactly what I wanted to make and very quickly found materials that helped reinforce my ideas. It was around the time that the war in Ukraine began and people around the world were shocked and were grieving and there was a sense of loss that didn’t have any rationale. Every day news feeds were filled with new stories and photographs of civilians killed in their homes in small villages. So I made a series of ceramic sculptures: faces with skin torn and damaged with marks left by metal tools, bullets and tyres. Their eyes are closed and the expression on their faces is serene as if they were caught by this disaster in their sleep. Innocent people violently killed by evil.

In a field where one is constantly a spectator of experimentation and extremes, how do you identify yourself? What is the essence of your art? How would you describe Katia as a person and as an artist?

It is amazing to be exposed to this free flow of ideas and concepts that we witness today. There are no boundaries and rules in art any more and that inspires more artists to experiment and think wider. At the same time I feel that lots of art is experimental in its form but lacks depth. For me a true artist is a philosopher and this is a much more difficult job than looking for new ways for expression. Ultimately you need to find the best way to say what you want to say.I am also taken aback by the political correctness that has become the new censorship of our times. On paper we live in a society with free expression of ideas. However in reality there are so many topics that have become taboos, and there are more and more every day. Almost nothing can be said without hurting someone’s feelings. Art is all its forms has always been at the forefront of questioning and challenging the existing norms and its disappointing that today artists who are continuing to do that are being marginalised and mediocre topics have taken the centerstage.