Alisa Vos

Your background is rooted in theater through your family. How has this influenced your visual art practice?

From an early age I was surrounded with this magical world of behind the scenes of a puppet theater. My father was making dolls for many plays and I saw them being created at home and coming to life on stage. Most definitely it automatically pulled me deeply into this world and made me realize – I also want to create. Which I do every single day.

You describe yourself as a multimedia artist. What medium currently feels most essential to you, and why?

That is so. I repurpose clothes, shoes, bags, make dolls, do photography, digital illustrations, paint with acrylic and make dolls from fabric or polymer clay. That is why it is so difficult for me to describe shortly what I can do. (What can I not? 🙂 But I can most certainly tell that a special place in my heart belongs to two things: dollmaking and graphical art. If I really have to choose one – it will be ink drawings. Right now it helps me fully express everything that is on my mind, heart and soul.

Alisa Vos | Technicasso | 2025

Many of your works feel surreal and symbolic. How do dreams, myths, or folklore influence your creative process?

True. I practically live in two worlds. Connecting to the other dimension is crucial because I receive information from the other realm. Pretty often I pay a high price for it in the shape of insomnia. Some ideas come to me in dreams or observations. Also meditations are helping me to ground and catch the most interesting thoughts and future ideas for works. As well as lucid dreams. I love to read folklore stories. Not only from my birth country, Ukraine, but I am also fascinated by international knowledge and legends.

You mentioned using rainwater and even your own blood in your graphic work. What drives you to incorporate such personal and elemental materials?

It might sound crazy, in some way it is, but using rain water helps me to connect with nature on some higher level. This way I feel the most tapped in and every single work gaining those special value. Also it sparks discussions and interest among people. I’ve got this one viral video on TikTok, where I show the process of creation one of my graphics, using a drop of my blood. I haven’t expected so much interaction from people world wide. Many don’t believe that I used it, some even getting terrified. Although it is not my intention in any way to scare or push away anyone, but that fact that my art brings so many people to discussion is a priceless gift! Art needs to bring emotions. And in that art, you can definitely say, I’ve added a part of me.

Alisa Vos | Impossible box | 2025

Nature and the mystical are key inspirations for you. Are there particular places or experiences in nature that have deeply impacted your work?

I feel deeply driven by cycles of nature. It is my ally, my helper and inspiration. I can often be found in forest paths, hugging trees, feeding birds and connecting to mother Earth. If you feel sad or frustrated – go to nature, she holds the answers in wind, in water, in gentle whispers of grass. I love to stare at the Moon or watch majestic sunsets. It helps me process any difficulties or even overcome artistic blocks. Although I cannot tell that I have some specific spot to go, I can definitely say that it is my temple and recharging point.

Living in the Netherlands now, how has the cultural or visual environment there shaped your recent art?

Oh, it is a beautiful country with so many rainy days so I will never be without water for my art. 😉

When you visit the Netherlands you mostly see it from touristic perspective: windmills, endless fields of tulips, cheese, super friendly people and a great amount of museums to see. When you start living here it opens up a little differently. More deep, more layers, more complex structure of life. It has a slightly different culture and for me was the most difficult part to start all over. It is scary but super motivating. After all, how can you not love this nature and architecture, preserved with so much care for many centuries? Not for nothing so many artists lived and created here. Dutch people value their rich history and someday they will tell legends about one crazy artist, who painted her dreams with ink and rain. 😉

I think I definitely grew in my art since I moved  here 11 years ago and I will keep continuing to develop my skills even more.

Alisa Vos | Tuliposaurus | 2025

Do you view your creations as telling a continuous story or are they more like fragments of different emotional worlds?

Ah, that is a good one! Let me think… I guess I can tell that it is One World of mine with many different stories in it. And I am proud to be able to share it with people. Because we are here for a very short spark of time and I would like to leave my mark here and continue living in my artworks.

And if in another life I could choose to play any other role… I would choose to be an artist over and over again to welcome others to my special world of magic.