Dima Smolyaninov

Dima Smolyaninov | Autumn Dance | 2025

Your paintings are described as surreal fantasy filled with dreamlike, mysterious imagery. How do you usually begin developing these imaginative compositions?

The first sketches of my paintings happen spontaneously. When I find a random piece of paper, I just start moving my pen over it without thinking, and my hand draws the first shapes and images on its own. I don’t really understand what’s going on or what the characters are doing. The scenes look incomplete, like pieces of a story left unfinished. But sometimes ideas come ready-made. For example, my wife saw a pink concrete fence in a dream. She told me about it, and I painted it. I just added a shadow of a fish for some reason.

What inspires the soft pastel palette that appears so often in your works?

I try to use calm and soft colors so the paintings are pleasant and don’t strain the eyes. Even red, I make as safe as possible. This kind of palette creates a light, relaxed mood—like looking at something from a dream or daydream, where everything feels comfortable and peaceful.

Dima Smolyaninov | Beings | 2024

Many viewers sense different meanings in your paintings. How do you feel about these varied personal interpretations?

I enjoy it when people see different stories and meanings in my paintings. It’s really interesting when everyone experiences the work in their own way, like a personal little world of associations and imagination. Since I don’t really know what’s happening in the painting myself, I’m always curious to hear all kinds of interpretations. It’s important to me that the work leaves space for that kind of individual immersion.

Dima Smolyaninov | Concretefence | 2025

Do you ever include hidden details or symbols, or is everything meant to stay completely open to the viewer?

There are no hidden or obvious meanings in my paintings. Everything is open so everyone can imagine and find something of their own.

How has your style evolved over time, and what influenced these changes?

I’ve only been painting for a short time, so it’s too early to talk about development or a fixed style. I experiment and don’t stick to one style. Right now, freedom to show imagination and atmosphere matters more to me than specific genres or techniques.

Dima Smolyaninov | Flamingos | 2025

How do you see the relationship between imagination and reality in your art?

The only real connection my art has with the world is the canvas and the viewer. Everything else is fantasy and imagination born in their head.

Dima Smolyaninov | Spring Dance | 2024

What emotions or sensations do you hope visitors experience when they stand before your work?

I want the viewer to feel lightness and pleasant surprise, like they’re looking at a dream that’s not scary or heavy, just something that makes their eyes and imagination happy. I want it to leave a feeling of something interesting but easy to take in, with a smile and a gentle mystery.