Elen Alien is a London-based artist born in Ukraine in 1990. Her artistic journey began at an early age, with her participation in exhibitions and competitions during her formative years earning her multiple awards and accolades. After pursuing a master's degree in architecture and discovering her affinity for interior design, Elen seamlessly blended interior architecture, graphic design, art, and illustration in her eclectic practice. Following a decade of experimentation and a transformative nomadic lifestyle, she has lived in various countries, including Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, before settling in London. Her work is characterized by a profound exploration of the balance between the digital and natural worlds, sparking dialogue about our relationship with the evolving technological landscape. Currently, she collaborates with AI and nature on her phygital project "The Garden of Transcendence," which explores the dynamic between nature and technology.
How has your journey from Ukraine to various countries in Europe influenced your art practice?
Over my lifetime, I've lived in seven different countries. While it’s difficult to trace a direct influence from this experience, I can say with certainty that it has profoundly shaped my understanding of what it means to be the other/an outsider and how I perceive home and my own identity. This sense of being different and adapting to new environments has deeply influenced my artistic practice.
In Scandinavia, where art is more deeply appreciated and integrated into everyday life compared to the countries of the former Soviet Union, I found the courage to transition from a career in design to pursuing art full-time after a decade in design practice. The cultural environment there provided a supportive backdrop for this significant change, allowing me to explore my creativity freely.
My time in these cultural settings has enriched my work, infusing it with a broader perspective and a deeper understanding of various artistic traditions and contemporary practices. Each place I’ve lived in has added layers of complexity to my art, encouraging me to explore themes of the interplay between humans and their environment (both natural and digital).
Can you describe the transition from your background in architecture and interior design to a focus on contemporary art?
Interior design has always been a middle ground between the architecture I studied and my passion for contemporary art. From a young age, I was drawn to the world of art. By the age of six, I was already creating my own pieces and participating in exhibitions and competitions. As soon as I had access to a computer, I started saving my favorite artworks on Pinterest. However, it wasn't until I turned 30 that I decided to prioritize art, approaching it professionally: consciously and systematically.
When life gave me the chance to prioritize art, I seized the opportunity immediately. Moving to Scandinavia marked a significant turning point. In Scandinavia, where art is deeply valued and integrated into everyday life, I found a supportive cultural environment that encouraged me to transition from a design career to full-time artistry.
I immersed myself in my artistic practice, constantly seeking inspiration and proficiency. Whenever aspects of contemporary art puzzled me, I sought answers through extensive research. If publicly available information was insufficient, I enrolled in online or offline courses or sought private consultations. My practical training began at six and continued consistently, even when my works were neither shown.
How do you blend nature, technology, and human identity in your diverse range of mediums?
The blend of nature, technology, and human identity is evident both in the process of creating my latest works and in the final pieces themselves. I work in collaboration with non-human agents—nature (particularly the flora and fauna) and artificial intelligence. My tools include canvas, leaves, flowers, glue, paints, brushes, computers, and the internet. In my project "Garden of Transcendence," I incorporate dried plants and found objects into traditional oil paintings. These physical elements of nature are then complemented by digital twins, such as animations preserved as NFTs and available in AR through the viewer’s phone camera.
Nature sets the initial tone with its palette and textures in each artwork. I begin with abstract compositional sketches inspired by natural materials. Artificial intelligence then refines these sketches into detailed human forms. I intentionally introduce glitches or machine errors subtly, creating an intriguing ambiguity—a sense that things are both understood and slightly awry. The selected sketches, meeting my ideological and visual criteria, form the basis for my oil paintings, enriched by nature's textures, colors, and organic forms. Once the paintings are complete, artificial intelligence generates animations based on them, illustrating the constant flux of human identity—not a static result, but an ongoing process. This process allows me to delve into themes of identity and interconnectedness, examining how technology influences our perception of self and our relationship with our surroundings.
In essence, my art practice is a dialogue between the organic and the synthetic, the natural and technological. By blending these elements, I aim to create works that resonate with viewers on multiple levels, prompting them to reflect on their place within the rapidly evolving interplay of nature and technology, searching for new ways of interaction. This synthesis is not just a thematic exploration but a tangible process that brings together disparate elements to form a cohesive, thought-provoking whole.
What inspired you to embrace a nomadic lifestyle, and how has it impacted your art?
It was a confluence of circumstances rather than a conscious choice that led me to embrace a nomadic lifestyle. I can only say that the driving force behind this journey was love.
Living as a nomad, I have come to understand firsthand that boundaries are fluid, and identities fluctuate. This lifestyle has also impacted my career trajectory. Moving frequently meant that I couldn't rely solely on local opportunities; instead, I built my career on the international stage. This approach required me to focus significantly on my online presence and digital representation, both professionally and personally. That's how my interest in technology appeared. The necessity of maintaining a strong online presence has allowed me to reach a global audience and stay connected with the broader art community, regardless of where I am physically located.
The nomadic experience has also reinforced the theme of interconnectedness in my work. My art often explores the blending of nature, technology, and human identity, reflecting the transient and ever-changing nature of my own life. The diversity of environments and cultures I have encountered continues to inspire me, pushing me to experiment with new mediums and concepts, and enriching my artistic expression.
Can you share the concept behind your phygital project "The Garden of Transcendence" and its significance?
The convergence of nature and technology, seemingly disparate realms, is inseparable from human presence. Humanity exists at the intersection of these worlds, a concept that deeply intrigued me and led to the development of my project "Garden of Transcendence." Collaborating with artificial intelligence and nature, this project depicts the contemporary human oscillating between these dualities, striving for equilibrium.
This exploration extends beyond traditional painting and herbaria methods, leveraging video formats to convey dynamics within compositions, a realm inaccessible to traditional painting alone. These animations become digital twins of the paintings, existing in the digital world as NFTs. Viewers can interact with both the physical artwork and its digital counterpart through a smartphone screen, bridging the gap between these parallel universes via AR.
Furthermore, this project is an exploration of my role as an artist in a rapidly changing world. It challenges perceptions of art's role in understanding and navigating our complex relationship with technology and nature. Through "Garden of Transcendence," I aim to invite viewers into a dialogue about our evolving identities and future relationships with the world around us.
How do personal experiences and psychoanalytic theories shape the themes and motifs in your work?
The starting point for my artworks often emerges from biomaterials that unexpectedly catch my eye. Personal experiences, global events, exhibitions, conversations with people, emotions felt, and life experiences are all stored within me like treasures in an internal chest. Over time, these elements coalesce into artistic expressions and ideas that seem to come from a higher source but are truly the result of my curiosity, exploration, and artistic vision.
Here's a secret: I often don't immediately understand why a particular image forms in my mind or why my attention is drawn to a specific material. It's only during the process of working on a project that I begin to grasp the underlying motivations and how to logically develop them further. Transitioning this subconscious inspiration into conscious activity is essential to articulate these ideas effectively to my audience.
Psychoanalytic theories play a crucial role in this journey. Lacan's theories on the mirror stage and the construction of identity help me navigate the complexities of human perception and self-awareness reflected in my creative process. These insights are particularly relevant as I explore the intersections of nature and technology in my work.
What do you hope viewers take away from the balance between digital and natural elements in your art?
I believe that art happens in the space between the finished work and the viewer, which is why I leave room for interpretation. As a contemporary artist, I am on a quest to explore what a portrait can be after Francis Bacon, who seemed to have said it all on the subject.
By portraying today’s human through the duality of nature and technology, I aim to provide viewers with a space for reflection on their own experiences of existing in two worlds simultaneously. My work offers a platform for contemplating new ways of interacting with these realms and seeking balance within this duality. Through the interplay of digital and natural elements, I want viewers to see how these aspects coexist and shape our identities. The organic textures and colors of natural materials blend with the glitching digital vision, symbolizing the seamless integration of these two forces in our lives.
I hope viewers walk away with a seed of a deeper understanding of their place in this ever-evolving world, inspired to think about how they mediate the boundaries between technology and nature. My art invites them to think of new ways of interaction.
