Market Interview: Tanya Kiselyova

At the Rabbit Hole Studios’ Sunday Market on Feb. 5, visual artist Tanya Kiselyova’s intricate and magical paintings made a colorful statement against the wintertime landscape and nearby road. Her work proudly exclaimed the energy of life, drawing in many market attendees. We had a chance to discuss who the local Athens artist is and the meaning behind the paintings.

Meet Artist Tanya Kiselyova

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Moscow, Russia and moved to the United States when I was 25.

How did you get started as an artist, and how long have you been making art?

I've been making art most of my life. When I was nine, I went to an art school and studied there for three years. Every summer I spent a lot of my time in the woods, crawling on my hands and knees with my sketchbook and drawing mushrooms, frogs, dragonflies, and other animals and plants. I studied biology at the Moscow State University and continued with a doctoral research in Entomology at the University of Georgia. During my undergraduate and graduate studies, I did some scientific illustrations for my colleagues and for my own papers. Then in 2008 I traveled to Peru and had my first experience with Peruvian master plants. One of the many changes in my life that were brought about by this journey was that I suddenly wanted to paint, and that's when I started painting in acrylics. Since then I have studied with Alex Grey at several of his visionary painting intensives and have met many artists whose work inspires me.

There is a name for this genre: visionary painting. I paint the mystery and the miracle of life and nature, something that I see with my heart rather than directly with my eyes. I'm thinking that this is how I have seen even before my experience with entheogens allowed me a deeper glimpse into the mystery. Seeing with my heart, that's something that comes naturally.

I'm really grateful to Mother Earth and Mother Life. I feel very connected to Earth and plants and animals. This connection has been growing through the years, and this is what my art is about.

You mentioned having a gallery space to display all of your original work. What do you see for the future of your art?

The reason that I don't sell a lot of my art is that an idea, or a feeling, started growing before I became aware of it, that I wanted it all to be in one place.

For me, art is transformative. Art is medicine. So when I paint, it's a sacred space. It comes through me. It's something that I take as an honor. The world trusts me enough to have those creative forms, this beauty and gratitude come through me. And this is the vibration that this art holds. When people tell me how my art is affecting them, I hear that it's not only true for me, it's true for them; it resonates with them. That makes it all so worth it. I can say easily I live for that spark; I live to pass on the gratitude. If something that came through me as a creation lights up the spark in someone else and they feel more connected to who they are and why they're in the world, this is the juice, this, this is it. And so that's the reason that I want to have it all in one space. I don't have a very well-formed idea what's going to happen there. But I'm more of a follow my nose kind of a person.

Maybe it would be a space for medicine music circles such as the ones I have held for some years, and maybe people just coming and meditating or maybe people coming and doing art together. A space of connection and inspiration.

Do you share your art at markets often?

I made some attempts before. But I think that I was not committed to just diving in and enjoying the game. Not only playing the game but enjoying it. But I feel more sparkly about it because really, I don't need to make a living on my art, but I love this connection. I love meeting you and talking to you. I loved meeting every person who came over.

Learn more at reflectionsofit.blogspot.com.