O-A: What is art to you? Is creating an urge, necessity or maybe an incontournable, essential way of life?
Daniil Alikov: First of all, to me art is a way to get a guaranteed pleasure. I enjoy dealing with physical materials like canvas, paint, paper, water, wood etc. I enjoy self direction and artistic challenges of the search for a new visual solutions, and philosophical notion of art etc etc.
Secondly, as any other artist consciously or not, I try to show other people that beauty can be different. This is very important mission of art – to constantly widen boundaries of beautiful and encourage people to see and to love more things in life than before.
O-A: What wouldn’t you do without art? What did you discover, achieve with it?
Daniil Alikov: I think, without art it would be much harder to make sure I can create something new in this world. And all my challenges in life would be much more grounded than now.
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O-A: If a person, artist or not, influenced you, what kind of question would you ask him/her?
Daniil Alikov: I would ask that person how he/she sees the place of his/her creations in the history and culture of the humanity in the far future. I don’t know yet how would I have answered it myself and that’s why it would be very interesting to listen how person who influenced me would reply to it.
O-A: Who or what inspired you artistically; a person, artist, event, experience…
Daniil Alikov: Works of other artists, cities, industrial architecture, music, philosophy, computers, design of things around me… all those things inspire me everyday.
O-A: What is a vivid memory of a remark concerning your art that got stuck with you?
Daniil Alikov: Since I love to see how my art progresses in time I like to recall one episode from 2014 when I just started making art and I didn’t know yet what I want to create. So I just took a photo of a random garbage on the floor and tried to create a composition on the canvas using that photo as a reference. It was so naive that I love to compare my state of mind back then and now, to see how much progress I’ve made and how much more interesting my process has become now.
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O-A: What was the most interesting statement you heard about your work?
Daniil Alikov: Any statements about my art are always different and none of them ever matches my own perception of my art. And I’m very happy about that because that’s how I see the main property of abstract art – the openness to any possible interpretations. So my answer is – all of opinions about my art are equally valuable for me.
O-A: How do you search for inspiration and themes for your work?
Daniil Alikov: I’m creating my own visual language using everything I can see but among it I look mostly for things and elements that help me to catch my main inspiration – imaginary art of the future. So my inspiration turns out to be mostly the product of my own imagination.
O-A: How has your art changed over time? Why?
Daniil Alikov: I guess the process of growing always means changing. Over time my works change according to my growing skills and abilities allowing me more precisely create something I’m after. Although I hope this process will go on as long as possible.
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O-A: Are you a synesthet? Have synesthet ever commented on your paintings? How?
Daniil Alikov: I don’t think I’m real synesthet. But if I need I can visualize sounds, processes, conceptions and so on.
O-A: What names do you give your artworks?
Daniil Alikov: I used to simply numbering my works in the past series but now I try to name my works according to what I can feel corresponds to overall mood and look of composition.
