Interview: Margarita Orlova
Luca Curci talks with Margarita Orlova during FRAGMENTED IDENTITIES, second appointment of BORDERS ART FAIR 2021, at THE ROOM Contemporary Art Space.

Margarita Orlova, 21 years old Russian creative from Barcelona. She is a juxtaposition of a blonde feminine fashion marketologist who happens to paint blood and gore. Her artworks typically focus on three themes: organs, food and exaggeration of emotions. Margarita explores ways of a painting to evoke disgust and anger reactions from the viewers. “As an artist, I dedicate myself to exploring taboos and anathema. The juxtaposition of flesh, food and people is the essential focus of my artworks. I feel the need to communicate that there is more to art than superficial beauty, and evoke real emotions”.

Luca Curci – Which subject are you working on?
Margarita Orlova – I am currently working on exploring organs and food in their displeasing form. These two subjects fascinate me the most, especially once juxtaposed. My current focus is not only on the paintings themselves but also on learning how my paintings evoke the disgust and anger reaction from the viewers.

LC – How did you get to your current artistic practice?
MO – Perhaps the hardest part of my practice was not painting but looking and asking for organs. It is rather not very common to go to a butcher shop and ask for an offal in a city centre, you get weird stares. Speaking of my painting skill, there is no secret: I got to my current artistic practice by practising. I do not believe in so-called talent, I believe in persistence and work.

LC – Which art themes do you pursue? What is your preferred subject, if there is any?
MO – I typically focus my artworks on 3 themes: organs, food and exaggeration of emotions. All of them are my preferred subjects, I often combine them all. My current obsession specifically is raw meat on bones, eggs, and exaggerated angry or confused faces.

LC – What is your creative process like?
MO – I do not wait for inspiration, but when I ran out of ideas, I read anatomic books or go to butcher shops. I always paint alone. I can never paint in front of other people (perhaps a trauma from an art school). Before starting to paint I always make a good playlist which usually consists of Radiohead, Massive Attack, Portishead, Prodigy and Aphex Twin. The rest is just me turning my brain off and working with my eyes and hands.

LC – Did your style change over the years? In which way?
MO – Not that it changed, I think, it just finally developed. I am 21 years old, and all I was doing before was just learning and exploring until it finally clicked. My style started to develop in high school when I chose art as my A-Level subject; I was gifted the freedom to choose my own topics to paint, which happened to be “The human insides”.

LC – In which way the artwork presented in our exhibition is connected with the festival’s theme?
MO – “Gasp” is about being broken, disturbed and angry at the world in a Covid-19 pandemic. “Gasp” is a self-portrait that shows 3 states of self-identities and weak asthmatic lungs. It is a concept about being broken into pieces because of anger, gasping for fresh air and a fresh start. Similarly, the festival theme is ‘Fragmented Identities’, both emotional and physical.

LC – What do you think about the concept of this festival? How did it inspire you?
MO – I think the concept is fascinating and captivating. ‘Fragmented identities’, in reality, is such a broad concept, and can be perceived and understood so differently by everyone. I personally associate it with the word “limits”; it becomes a question of boundaries but also freedom which each one of us experiences, especially emotionally. The festival’s theme inspired me with a realization, that in fact most of my artworks and the process behind them, relate to the idea of limits and liberty. It was a “Eureka!” moment for me.

LC – What do you think about the organization of our event?
MO – It was very good. I think it was a great idea to also carry it out in Venice, in a city of art.

LC – What is your idea about ITSLIQUID GROUP?
MO – That it is a new expanding group, with a clear message and concept.