We reached out to Elizaveta to learn more about her creative process and the journey behind her art. Curious about what led her to start creating with everyday objects, we asked about her beginnings. "Since childhood, I have felt like an artist, and throughout my life, this has taken on different forms of expression," she shared. "When it comes to footwear, it all started when I would run around the house collecting broken Kinder toy pieces. It was a kind of motherhood crisis. To keep myself from losing my mind, I decided to decorate my stiletto, which had lately been of no use in everyday life. The result became a work about the internal struggle of a mother, a woman, and an artist."
Elizaveta's creations are crafted from a wide range of materials you might find at home—broccoli, Christmas ornaments, plastic bags, and more. Thinking about the variety of objects she uses, we wondered how she decides which materials to work with. "The simplest objects are absolutely beautiful. But we see them so often that, unfortunately, we start perceiving them merely as tools to achieve a purpose. I hope that by placing these artifacts, which I’ve suddenly managed to see in a new light, into a different context, I’ll be able to break the association between object and function, allowing these things to be rediscovered without the biases and simplifications that everyday perception imposes."
For Elizaveta, there are no such things as uninspiring objects. "You just need to be attentive and curious. Likewise, the place doesn’t matter for inspiration. It can catch you around any corner, even in your own home. And I enjoy finding inspiration in places that seem uninspiring at first glance. If you look closely, there’s a lot of it, perhaps because so few people try to find it there."
"A flower is the unit and the absolute of beauty. I believe that flowers can be even people, or any objects at all. The function and name don’t matter; what’s important is the feeling that a particular object suddenly evokes. Is this object, to you personally, a flower? This strange world, where every object is a flower, is what I explore in my work.
I enjoy embodying my meanings and ideas through footwear sculptures and decorating feet. It’s an attempt to make the extraordinary and beautiful around me personal and mine, to steal the beauty of objects that have touched or amazed me, to become one with them, beautiful, like a flower."
While these footwear creations might appear effortless, as they seem to float beautifully and gracefully cover the foot, Elizaveta revealed that creating them comes with its own set of challenges. "Sometimes they are slippery and wet, sometimes they are prickly and sharp. But the more joyful it is to make friends with their unruly nature."
"Photography is the search for light. I want those who look at my photos to see the light, to be amazed, to feel joy, to smile, to experience what I felt, and for an act of love and empathy to occur, which is what art is."
