Born 1995 in Kyiv, Ukraine, Viktor Kobylianski is a self-taught visual artist who immigrated to US in 2014 and lived in Los Angeles until 2021. To focus more on his art career, he decided to take a few years break from LA and move to Portland, OR where he currently works and lives. His background is in music producing and songwriting.
How did you get into art?
I think I could say that I was into art all my life starting from high school notebook drawings to spray paint on street walls but never thought of pursuing an actual artist career. I believe it started with concrete. I used to cast concrete a lot and create different concrete lamps and art objects for fun, to sell on Etsy and giveaway as a gift to my friend’s birthdays when I couldn’t afford to buy them a real gift. While casting concrete I also continued to draw, paint sketches on my mixed media paper and then there was a moment when I decided to combine things I like together. I started to experiment with man-made materials on canvas.
How would you describe your style? What makes your art special?
I focus on intuitive approach to abstract without complete understanding what the final result will look due to curing process of medium I use. With my work I would say inaccuracy and incompleteness, ephemerality and abstractive object depiction with sometimes saturated but mostly burnt and faded colors are the main themes.
How do you go about developing your work?
I tend to experiment with different techniques. There is a lot I can do differently each time I create a new piece. I have my own sort of collections of work styles to which I refer and I always looking to add something new to them. I don’t plan my works but I can definitely feel what I’m going for. The whole process is about what and how I feel not to what I want to say. Later on, soaked in printed and pigmented dusty marks on raw canvas will show me what I wanted to say.
Who or what influences you?
I like a lot of stuff, really. It’s a fusion of seen things and feelings that go through my own filter of sublimation. From my environment, mood and peeled paint to wabi sabi, conceptual art and Clifford Still.
What are you planning to do next?
It’s not in my nature really to share my plans but currently I am developing new collections of work and can’t wait to share them with world.
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