Natalya Lobanova, under the tumblr name happy2bsad is a London-based illustrator whose work is a wonderfully ironic twang of what in one word ought to be described as “raw,” but is better summed up in “dreamlike.” What she brings to the table is nothing more exciting then the average shit that crosses a twenty-something girl’s mind, but Natalya has a very light and poetic outlook on life. Her work is only simple in its accessibility. What’s taking in what she does is the way that she reminds us that those little things which in the daily daze of our lives are overlooked, are still worth the attention.
GRAPHITE: Hi, Natalya! Thanks for taking the time to chat with us. Tell us a little about yourself.
Natalya Lobanova: I was born in Almaty, Kazakhstan and moved to east London when I was 5. I now live and study in Edinburgh, Scotland and spend my summers in London.
Has that affected your work in any way?
I think the main thing is that moving to the UK means that all my text-based stuff is in English rather than in Russian!! Otherwise, not on any conscious level, most of my stuff is really kind of introspective.
How does that translate into what creative expression is to you?
The introspection is part of the creative process; it’s a lot like purging yourself of feelings. As soon as it’s on paper or in some sort of physical form, then it is no longer really inside you and can’t bother you too much. That generally means anything that makes you feel anything other than OK. I guess it’s like a stabiliser.
What’s your process like?
I don’t know; I’m quite a literal person and artist. I don’t like things to be inaccessible, so my ideas will always come as comprehensible even from an outside perspective. But these ideas all have a feel: sometimes I will associate them with a colour or a texture, or I will know what sort of style or how to approach the process of turning mindstuff into physical matter. It’s really an intuitive process and it’s hard to explain how ideas are formed, it’s not very systematic.
Then what is most captivating for you right now?
I’m definitely really into feminist mysticism and goddess mythology right now. Though it isn’t really from the sort of anthropological aspect of it, more of the political. I read a really good book recently by Carol Christ called Rebirth of the Goddess, where she mentions a lot of interesting aspects of how we even came to live in a patriarchy, and she gave evidence for prehistoric matriarchal societies. She also discussed theories that women invented agriculture (as they were the gatherers and would have noticed the causative relationship between dropping seeds and plants growing), and pottery (as an aid to agriculture), and a lot of things like that that are generally overlooked by society today. My flatmate gave me A Womens’ History of the World by Rosalind Miles for my birthday, and I can’t wait to read it. Also, I always have and always will love flowers, so, that’s kind of an interest. I’m interested in the more organic things that don’t really change, things that seem more inherent to human nature. Also, anyone who doesn’t like flowers is either lying or doesn’t like happiness and beauty itself.
Do you ever face any external constraints that prevent you from continuing your work?
Oh yeah, absolutely. It’s basically just finding the time to do it and not being lazy because I am doing a degree that isn’t art-based at all—I’m in philosophy and politics. So, my main constraint is my own laziness.
Where do you see yourself as an artist?
I really don’t know where I am at right now. I think all I would want to accomplish from it is to just be able to keep doing it! But every night we all face that voice that says, “What the hell are you doing with your life?”
Preach.
-Veronica Aronova
Natalya is an artist residing in London and studying in Edinburgh. Her work has been featured in BOOOOOOOM!, Spook Magazine, The Citrus Report, Trendhunter, Rookie Magazine, Contra Magazine, 1440Blog, and Flavorwire.
