Svetlana Kupcova

Your series is titled “New Russian Fairy Tales.” What inspired you to reinterpret traditional folklore through a contemporary lens?

Look around—you’ll see that today we live in a world full of countless false idols, borrowed ideals, and invented realities. Aren’t these fairy tales of a sort? As we grow older, we begin to ask ourselves: “What do I want?”, “What is my happiness?”, “What do I want to be for others?” And often, in searching for answers, it’s easier for people to invent new fairy tales—adult ones. I want to highlight this transformation of the fairy tale, from childhood into adulthood. We are no longer children, but we often believe in phantoms without asking any questions. And I want to ask those questions through my paintings. Is a “strong woman” really the right role model for young girls? Does the endless chase for money surely lead to happiness? Is “personal growth” within the walls of large corporations truly growth?

Yes, fairy tales accompanied us in childhood. But think about it: they still exist today, only under different titles. If you’ve forgotten their plots, read them again and see—aren’t the fairy-tale characters still living among us, continuing their destinies in modern forms? Or perhaps you yourself have become one of those characters? How does it feel? Is everything okay? Speak with yourself about this through my paintings.

Svetlana Kupcova | Masha and the Bear

Many of your works evoke surreal and even dystopian feelings. What emotions do you hope to awaken in the viewer?

Any folklore — and Russian folklore even more so — balances on the edge between the outer, visible world we know and the otherworldly, hidden, dark one. As children we fear it, but as we grow older we begin to flaunt our acceptance of the reverse, shadow side of light as something natural. Remember telling scary stories around a campfire? Goosebumps! And yet, it was also a challenge to fear — I will not hide, I will not run, I am not afraid, I accept you, you are part of me.

What fascinates me about fairy tales is precisely this mirroring of growing up, of learning to accept light and darkness as inseparable allies. Stories told to children are invented by adults, and yet in these tales nothing is ever entirely smooth. I want to engage my viewer by asking, “Why is it so?” What wisdom are we trying to pass on? Perhaps it is an honest view of life — acknowledge the dark side, and you will see more light. In my paintings, I want to make these rules of the game explicit — to mirror the dark side, to render it visible rather than hidden. Yes, sometimes through anxiety, through fear, through confusion. It is important to me that my viewer be compelled to search for light, to extract it as the greatest treasure. Today, we all need this more than ever!

Svetlana Kupcova | Ryaba the Hen

In your artistic statement, you raise the question of visible and invisible worlds. Which world feels more real to you when you create?

What a wonderful question! Think about it with me: which world is more important to you? Do you remember the wisdom: “the wolf you feed is the one that grows stronger”? It is the same with the visible outer world and the invisible inner world: at a certain point in life, for some people it is more important to seem, and for others — to be. But if we feed one of our worlds excessively, the other begins to cry out from hunger and pain. That is when it is important to hear this cry, to pause, to respond.

This is what almost all of my paintings are about. I want them to speak with the viewer and even stir up memories of forgotten corners of the soul. Of course, in the creative process I myself embark on this journey. It is almost always challenging, but it allows me to feel life more vividly, even in the most ordinary and simple things.

The imagery in your works is powerful and symbolic. Could you share the meaning behind one specific image — for example, the red circle?

The red circle of “The Little Humpbacked Horse” is the elusive, unnoticed life left behind the back of a successful person, forever rushing at a frantic pace after fame and money. The person has forgotten themselves, turned into a driven horse. Each achieved goal gives birth to a new one, and the approval of others becomes more important than one’s own emotions. And so people run inside this damned wheel of the big city. Only they don’t have time to actually live.

Svetlana Kupcova | Little Havroshechka

How do you think modern society responds to strong, mythic female figures — like the woman who defeats the bear?

In the fairy tale Masha and the Bear, a little girl is opposed to a fierce beast. I see that today the girl has grown up and become stronger than the beast. She herself has become the bear. Do you see how this image of the woman-as-beast lives on nowadays? Are all strong and brave women happy to see such a reflection of themselves in the mirror? Or are they trapped in this stereotype, forced to display it like an exhibit behind glass?

In my painting, the bear as a mask raises the question of women’s true strength. Do we really understand this power of ours? Or are we substituting it with false bravado?

Svetlana Kupcova | The Little Humpbacked Horse

You moved from the corporate world into art. How has that experience shaped your approach to storytelling and symbolism?

Big consulting is not only about business, as many often think. I work in change management. It is a large-scale engagement with people, the building of leadership models. For this, first of all, it is essential to feel people: to understand what drives them, what truly matters to them, how they establish their foundations. Secondly, it is important to talk to them about these things, helping to bring out the right strings of the soul. That is why the main character of most of my paintings is the human being and their inner struggle—whether it is a struggle against something or for something. This theme attracts me both in life and in my art.

The characters in your pieces seem caught in moments of tension, struggle, or transformation. Do you see your art as a form of personal or collective therapy?

Any art is a reflection of its time. Today is a time when people are increasingly searching for meaning in what they do, learning to see their true selves and the true selves of others. That’s wonderful! But can this path be traveled without struggle and transformation? And can it be traveled alone?

I enjoy observing how people are more and more often trying to look into each other’s souls, to accept both the bright and dark sides as an inseparable whole, and to change one another. This is true therapy. I am happy to be part of it and to highlight inner tension as a force for the growth of a human into a HUMAN.