Bio
Victoria Lomasko is a Russian contemporary artist, who is based in Moscow. She holds a degree in Graphic Arts from Moscow State University of Printing Arts. Describing her work as accurate, rather than political, Lomasko’s practice explores contemporary Russian society, especially the inner workings of the country’s diverse subcultures, such as LGBT activists, migrant workers, sex workers, prisoners, and so on. Her book Other Russias, that was published in six countries including by n+1 in The USA and by Penguin in The UK, is a collection of ‘graphic reportages,’ a self-described style of art making and record keeping. During the past few years, mural making has become a central facet of her practice.
Full Artist Statement
“For me, writing is equally important as drawing; almost all of my work has a synthesis of image and text. Earlier, I thought I was telling stories about my contemporaries, chronicling Putin’s Russia, but then I realized that in addition to that, there is always the main subject – each person’s choice of how to manifest themselves in this world. I have often been called an activist artist but I am not an activist. An activist is entangled with other people’s expectations about the right topics and strategies for activists; on the other hand, an artist is independent and unpredictable.”
