07/14/2024
9 questions with lead artist and animator of Ricardo and Friendz Anastasia Rodina. Interviewed by Tony J. Willis.
1. Hi Anastasia. Who are the people/artists that inspire you?
Hello Tony! I value most of all, first of all, sincere people and those who sincerely express themselves in creativity. I love brave creators who are not afraid to go beyond the boundaries and do, even if they don’t know how to do something, create something new, are not afraid to be vulnerable, to break the rules. Of the so-called classical artists, I have always loved the impressionists and avant-garde artists. To be honest, I almost stopped following trends in art after graduating from the art academy, as I felt oversaturated with it, but I follow the news of many unpopular authors who create puppets, animation, movie decorations, who do painting, linocuts. Of course, the artists who most admire me are those who do everything with their own hands, but in digital art I also appreciate particularly soulful projects, especially among video games. I am inspired by people who, despite everything, continue to do what their heart tells them to do with all their passion, without stopping, I appreciate persistence that reaches the point of madness.
2. What materials are off limits to you when creating and why? Plastic etc...
I studied and worked for many years in the field of painting restoration and caused a lot of harm to my health, from which, specifically for my health, I avoid certain solvents, toxic types of glue, I do not print models on a 3D printer, I do not use toxic paint. When it comes to protecting nature, I simply try to minimize waste - I save even the smallest scraps of wood, leather, metal and plastic to use them in creating dolls and decorations for future projects.
3. Did you go to a University or are you self-taught?
I studied at an art school for 12 years (I went there at age 5) and then for another 6 years at the Stroganov Art Academy in Moscow, specializing as a restorer of monumental, decorative and easel painting. It turns out that I have been studying art all my life, and from childhood I saw the meaning of my life in this; I started drawing in kindergarten at the age of 3. Most of all, I loved doing everything with my own hands and most of all I didn’t want to come to digital art, but since modern realities force me to make digital content, I found a compromise for myself - puppet stop-motion animation, where I do most of it with my own hands, and The result is just digital video.
4. Has Ricardo and Friendz changed your life in any way?
Undoubtedly! You know, before the project with Ricardo, I still doubted that puppet animation could become my main business in life and provide me with my life, but when I saw how interested people were in my work, how they were waiting for new episodes with Ricardo and how they supported the idea of creating film, I realized that this was my path, and that I was doing the right thing, not deviating from it in recent years, despite Covid, war and isolation from the rest of the world with all the sanctions.
5. How do you think growing up in Eastern Europe/Russia has influenced your work?
I am sure that we are all woven from what we grew up with and of course I believe that there is an influence and it will remain with my mentality for the rest of my life. I was lucky that I was born in the very center of Moscow near Red Square, and around me there were always beautiful restored buildings with stucco moldings and sculptures, there were many educated and cultural people, museums and galleries around me. But not all of Russia is like that. My parents did not interfere with my zeal for creativity and did not try to make me into another useful doctor or lawyer for society, for which I especially thank them. But in the minds of our people, artists have always been associated with poverty and suffering, and it was difficult to find support in making art the work of my life; most people thought that I would stop doing this and find a “normal job” in order to somehow survive. But at the same time, this inherent ability of our people to adapt to a difficult life helped me not to give up my dream. For me, the way to survive in an unfair world was the ability to dream, develop my imagination, create my own worlds. If we talk specifically about stop motion puppet animation, then all my childhood I watched exactly these Soviet cartoons on TV, because we had a lot of talented animators in this field, and they definitely influenced me.
6. What are your favorite bands/type of music? Shout out!
Oh, music is like air to me. Unfortunately, my parents did not listen to rock music, and therefore I learned about it quite late. But my brother and I got game consoles, and my tastes began to develop from the soundtracks from video games. I started listening when I was 12 years old new-metal and alternative and in the future I began to come to more and more heavy music: a lot of kind of black metal, and by my more mature age I began to listen to doom and stoner. I have never been involved with the consumption of anything (I mean alcohol or drugs), this music simply reflects my comfortable rhythm of life. My music library contains tens of thousands of artists, I download music in good quality and carry a high-end player. I can single out several bands among the performers that I can listen to on a regular basis without getting tired, there are Sleep, Electric Wizard, Pallbearer, Bongripper, Crowbar, Monolord, Windhand, Taake, Ophis, Alda and etc.
7. Do you have any favorite films or cartoons?
I don't watch movies often, but there are some that I like to watch at different times and moods. I really like the works of the Irish studio Cartoon Saloon (The Secret of Kells, Song of the sea), I absolutely love our animated series Smeshariki (in the United States, the cartoon is called Kikoriki, but it was translated completely incorrectly, replacing concepts and cutting out many important points), I love Soviet cartoons, they have a lot of cruel morality. As a child, I liked Disney Pixar cartoons, but I can no longer watch modern ones with the same pleasure. I like emotional films with a deep plot. For example, I really love the movie Fountain (by Darren Aronofsky).
8. What would you like to see happen with Ricardo and Friendz in the future?
The film we are preparing has a very deep moral, which says that we should be more friendly with all the people around us, vampires and even zombies, regardless of their gender, race, sexual orientation, nationality and other differences. I think that we will reflect in it the social problems of our modern world, and will influence at least a little on the consciousness of people. I also want to influence current trends in the development of neural networks and digital technologies. Namely, I want to show that even now you can create with your hands and minds something that a machine cannot repeat. I want to try to encourage the public to take more interest in handcraft and puppet animation. I hope that a community of creative people will gather around the film, who will be inspired to create and inspire others, because our whole world rests on creative energy. It is the bias towards consumption instead of creation that leads to war.
9. Do you have other sites you would like people to follow? Photography etc..
I have never created separate websites, but I have pages on social networks. In our country there is a social network VKontakte, and there I have several groups with my photographs, here I have been publishing concert footage since 2008: https://vk.com/rodinaatconcert , here are my works in the field of portrait photography: https://vk.com/rodinaatportrait , here are links to my craft pages: https://taplink.cc/handmadebysutesu , personal accounts of my puppet character Bob: https://taplink.cc/bobindope .
