We continue our project Sharing is Caring. This time we talked to WE BAD corporation, which includes two illustrators - Lera Sxemka and Maxim Pavlyuk and their manager Yulia. Guys worked on large projects such as illustrations for the Constitution of Ukraine, SBPCh, Goodwine, Fozzy, Oschadbank. We met in their workshop to talk about creativity, inspiration and Odnoklassniki.
- How did you decide to make your creative corporation?
- L. We didn’t decide or plan anything, some coincidence just brought us to this point. We made one project together and realized that it works cool, and we can make another one. Then we thought about how to name it, and how to present ourselves to the world. Maxim said "We bad" and everything came together at once. It was in 2015.
- Why a corporation?
- L. We are definitely not a studio or a bureau. We wanted some name that describes us exactly. I like that corporation is some kind of ambitious word, you immediately imagine a huge concern, but in reality, there are only two of us, and it sounds like a little irony. The corporation is more about ambition and desire to take over the world than about the real state of affairs. Now we still have Julia - our manager and organizer of the internal order.
- Why did you choose this style of painting?
- L. I think that you do not choose the style, it chooses you. Everyone is very concerned about the question of finding their own style, but you do not need to search for it, you need to consider it. As well as yourself, because you are already who you are. Everything you do, you do in your own style. When you are small, you look at the world, reflect, then grow up and do something. You are experiencing a unique context that reflects on how you reproduce things. Something is going and then only the pure form stays. That is, it is always an unfinished process, no one cannot say that he/she has found something at this stage, right Maxim?
- M. Well, the foundation has been laid.
- L. The foundation has been laid, but the search is still ongoing. Form development within a style.
- M. Well, I don’t know, I cannot say what might be next. It is hard to imagine any concrete changes. There are simply their own guides - colour, shape, line.
- L. I have always liked the clean form, without unnecessary details. When everything is simple and clear. You see the table - you draw the table. You see a leaf - you draw a leaf. Our style is also formed on this. We do not create something we just take what we see and like.
- Top three artists who inspire you.
- L. I like David Hockney, in my childhood I really liked Toulouse Lautrec. I even tried to paint like him. And Maxim, of course.
- M. The guy who nailed the balls in Moscow on the red square (Piotr Pavlensky), Hitler, Rublev.
-What inspires you?
-L. The world and life. Everything is infinitely interesting. We live in such an outlandish country that all the time you wonder what is going on. The life of people, how they manifest themselves, how everyone does something. It all sounds really cool. You don't need to invent anything. Today we were just driving and saw two men from the housing and maintenance office in orange vests. They were levelling the pedestrian sign. One pulled towards himself, then another towards himself. This is a ready-made animation. Everything around is pulsating and you just need to catch it.
-M. I am inspired by life, movement, nature, space, its unexplored boundaries. Even the realization of this is inspiring. The balance between good and bad is also inspirable. I am inspired when I am on Odnoklassniki. I don't understand why young people are still not there and do not hang out with older people. There is life as it is. People who surround us every day.
-L. People who live in a totally different way. Through such channels, you can understand how they see this world, how they spend their free time. Making Shashlik, taking pictures.
- Who would you like to work with?
- L. Someone specific does not come to mind. It's great to work with someone with whom your collaboration will be a surprise. Combine the incompatible to keep it fresh. This is how we illustrated the Constitution for children for the office of the president. Who could imagine such a thing? Without a single edit! I would like to work with some airlines, draw something on an airplane, or on a rocket.
-M. Or body painting on Kirkorov all over the body. He's such a colourful guy.
- Do you have a name for your workshop?
- L. No, we do not. For us, this is a kind of temple. We only listen to classical music here, don't watch memes. This is the workshop of the artist’s union. We found a lot of strange things here. Some kind of mirrored sword, artefacts from the past, documents, photocopiers. The energy of history is felt in this place.