DASHA PLESEN AND HER MOLD UNIVERSES

DASHA PLESEN AND HER MOLD UNIVERSES

Text: Anna Mar

Photo credit: @dashaplesen

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If I ask you to imagine mold and a colony of bacteria, surely the image that emerges in your mind will not be pleasant. Russian artist Dasha Plesen (Daria Fedorova) breaks this stereotype.

She creates her own universes in ordinary Petri dishes and captures this beauty on camera.
Looking at photos of mold in a variety of textures and colors, we are convinced over and over again that beauty is everywhere.
We invite you to meet Dasha and her amazing world of mold in our interview, and we also encourage you to check out her portfolio on Behance and Instagram.

 

 

You’ve turned mold into real art. How did your fascination with mold begin?

 

It was almost more than 7 years ago, when I was on Foundation course of Fine Art. We had a task to think about further practice, artist statement, etc, and due to my passion for lab aesthetics, science, surgery and similar, I got this idea of microbial depicting our world, using growing organisms, in the same way as oil paints or other traditional art mediums.

 

The way how they grow and communicate, while developing/ I can’t control their DNA, but I can make it more visible, more variable, while manipulating with lightning, additional supplements, stencils, vibrations, recipes and proportions. So it’s like an incubator for new textures, reactions, shapes and patterns. I can feel and see the whole purity and fascination of life there. With every artwork I feel more and more empowered, even if it’s contamination, because Nature is always showing me that organisms are just a part of it, not ruling ones. In other words this is a form of adoration of chaos and strict consciousness at the same time, formed into the form of a full cycle of art production. From the early beginning, when nothing is seen, to the finished object, for the brand campaign or prints on textile and museum grade interior prints.

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Dashaplesen✨ (@dashaplesen)

 

Why did you decide to use this particular material to create your artwork? What attracts you to mold?

 

The way how they grow and communicate, while developing/ I can’t control their DNA, but I can make it more visible, more variable, while manipulating with lightning, additional supplements, stencils, vibrations, recipes and proportions. So it’s like an incubator for new textures, reactions, shapes and patterns. I can feel and see the whole purity and fascination of life there. With every artwork I feel more and more empowered, even if it’s contamination, because Nature is always showing me that organisms are just a part of it, not ruling ones. In other words this is a form of adoration of chaos and strict consciousness at the same time, formed into the form of a full cycle of art production. From the early beginning, when nothing is seen, to the finished object, for the brand campaign or prints on textile and museum grade interior prints.

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Dashaplesen✨ (@dashaplesen)

 

Could you describe the process of creating?

Firstly I need to feel that I miss them and want to see them again. The way it’s possible is to let them grow, give this opportunity, through cooking the nutrient, adding pigments and initial spores. So I go to the kitchen and boil nutrient agar, before hardening I can affect the initial colours and artificial geometry, using stencils, tiny sculptures, stickers and so on. As soon as it’s a collaboration, I can do my part of the work as I want it to, and the rest is not my business, if we talk about one of my fav techniques of free seeding, when spores are just accidentally caught from the air.

What message do you want to convey through your art?

I want the viewer to decide, because when you are adventuring through concepts and ideas, you want yourself also to be there. I have a very flexible concept, which could be both explored or abandoned by the audience. I would say in hashtags – power of the creator, nature, organical cycles, happy holyty of the death, beauty of different perceptions, outhere is a mirror of in there, diversity of material, infinitive rotation of creatures, power of conscious and the magic which comes when you are able to follow your heart.

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Dashaplesen✨ (@dashaplesen)

 
 

 

There is an opinion that art brings us closer to God. You create colonies of microorganisms, new worlds. How has this experience affected your worldview (your understanding of nature, existence, God?) What discoveries have you made for yourself?

 

Despite the pareidolia I can see some saint symbols growing, like crosses, or halos, forms of lettering and ornamentation, which could be seen as an echoes of ancient knowledge. I’m into spirituality, but can’t define myself as a super fanatic, I saw a lot of miracles around me. I know that this energy exists, and we are all starting to awaken for a bit, but it’s not a fast process. Vibrations of Love, Joy, Happiness, Belief, Gratitude are enormously powerful and healing. And without exception my art practice brings more value to it, from the side of personal experience and spiritual practices.

Can you tell us about your joint project with the shoe brand Sintezia?

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Dashaplesen✨ (@dashaplesen)

These guys are super talented and brave, when I first saw them I was so shocked like, wtf cmon this is amazingly inspiring. There is a lot of effort and hard work in their concepts, video production and items. I contacted them for the shooting, and we came up with the idea of growing mold on their iconic Seg shoes. That’s how it started. Experiments were super dramatic and in ongoing fail-to-success processes. I do not use antibiotics, thus there is a possible contamination, a lot of adrenaline and questions like : What if? Why not? Lets do this, fuck fear of unsuccess!

View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Sintezia (@sintezia)

 

 

Show two of your favorite works in color and texture.

I saw you presented your works on the OpenSea Marketplace. Tell us about your experience with NFT?

Interesting and vague at the same time. But it works, with a proper strategy, I had several sales and auctions. At the beginning I was so scared, because I couldn’t imagine such prices and hype, when I was on an art course, where Art History, deepest concepts, philosophy etc, and here are crypto kitties for thousands of dollars, mom what am I doing wrong?

What do your friends/family say about your artwork?

I don’t care

My attitude is that if my fans are imitating me – then it’s time for me to evolve onto new things.

What projects are you working on next?

More dishes, experiments with conservation, textile printing, furniture, digitals, conceptual projects with institutions and brands, limited t-shirts drop, and more!

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