My name is Sonya Bluvelvet, and I am an interdisciplinary artist from Saint Petersburg. In my work I explore femininity, beauty, spirituality and nature, reflecting on my own experiences. My journey as a creative individual began in 2022, when I was 13. That was when I painted my first canvas, which I consider the starting point in creating my visual language. I have drawn all my life — in art schools and classes; this year I graduated from Art Gymnasium No. 190, where I had studied since the seventh grade. I have now been admitted to the ESADSE University of Art and Design in France. Studying there was my dream and my main motivation to develop as an artist on the art scene.
I like working in different media: sculpture, painting and drawing; I enjoy collaborating with other people in the arts and trying new things. In my life, art is not simply a craft: it is part of me, my language and a home where I can come with any thoughts and always be accepted. More than once it has helped me through the hardest moments, while the canvas became the only listener to whom I entrusted all my difficult experiences. I love the process and love seeing a result that cannot be predicted. I treat my paintings like children — I put the most private and honest parts of myself into them.
At 15 I took part in an exhibition for the first time, and it was immediately abroad — the Dreams&Nightmares exhibition at London's Boomer Gallery. Two of my works were shown there: 'girls in red' and 'to the quick'. They were among my first oil paintings and received recognition in England. After that I continued taking part in different projects: I was published in a magazine about artists and entered Russian and international competitions.
I also worked at MISP — the Museum of Art of Saint Petersburg of the 20th–21st Centuries — as a guide and mediator, and later represented an artist at the PAF and T-PAF contemporary art fairs. I believe it is very important not only to create but also to become familiar with other artists' work: it develops your visual awareness and inspires you. I realised this after the fairs, where I met many artists, and at MISP, where I immersed myself completely in the work and biographies of well-known artists. For a while I was even a barista-artist, drawing portraits on cups at Sokol Coffee.
I think 2024–2025 was the peak of my workaholism. At one point I had three jobs at the same time, and after my shifts I would return home and paint pictures alongside drawings for school reviews. But I loved what I was doing, knew my goal clearly, and was genuinely happy about meeting new creative people and becoming immersed in this field.
I consider 'girls in red' the defining painting of my creative journey. I painted it in Spain. For some reason, audiences abroad responded to its 'folkloric' and very 'Russian' motifs. It was probably my first truly deliberate work, into which I put the thoughts that came after spending a long time abroad. This work led me to my first major commercial project — creating packaging for the bakery Tsekh 85.
The Tsekh 85 team noticed this work on social media and asked me to create illustrations. I was very pleased with the result: the central images were a girl and a horse — two images that resonate deeply with me. The female figure is the central character in all my work, while the horse is a symbol of strength, the desire for freedom and the pursuit of a dream. I also devoted a great deal of time to equestrian sport, and it holds a special place in my heart. When I was creating the illustrations, I was leaving the sport and saying goodbye to a beloved horse, who became the model for the drawing. I was happy to see people around the city carrying a piece of my soul in their hands. I remember walking into the coffee shop for the first time and seeing everyone with my cups and boxes: I almost cried with happiness. It was the first time I saw that my art had achieved a certain scale and gained publicity. Tsekh 85 made a short video about me, the collaboration was covered by the media, and I saw many public figures with my packaging.
But alongside such 'big success', I faced enormous hate online and at school. My gymnasium's anonymous channel filled with posts claiming that my project was 'undeserved' and 'paid for'; people criticised all my work, devalued it and insulted me. At first, it was hard to cope with so much negativity. I received many warm words from people I knew and from strangers, but everything good faded against the constant criticism and hatred. The most revealing moment was when the criticism started coming from teachers, not only peers. When journalists from Peterburgskiy Dnevnik came to interview me at school, the teachers made me and the journalists leave the gymnasium, saying, 'Her work disgraces our school; this is not what we teach.' The interview was eventually published, and this did not stop me from continuing my creative journey, but it left a strong aftertaste. Perhaps it was because of my sensitivity, or perhaps because of the real pressure. Looking back, I am grateful to life for this experience: I learned how to respond to criticism and relate to it properly, and developed a 'protective layer'. Six months later, when the channel started discussing me again after I was admitted abroad, I realised that it no longer affected me. When you spend so long reading and hearing bad things about yourself and your work, eventually you simply close your eyes to them.
I am glad that, because of my boundless love for this work, I never once thought about giving up drawing. I always knew that starting this path and continuing it would be difficult: it requires great effort, perseverance and courage. I think courage is especially important in this field, because you have to overcome the fear of something new and unknown and the judgement of others. Being an artist means receiving endless rejections from galleries, comparing yourself with professionals, searching for open calls and trying to assemble the perfect portfolio that will appeal to curators; but at the same time it is an enormous happiness and an opportunity to create something new and bring beauty and your own fantasies into the world. I am now preparing for my first academic year abroad and recently received an invitation to take part in an exhibition in Paris with a new work, 'je suis plus forte'. In the near future I hope to realise many projects, create work in new media and fulfil my dream of a solo exhibition. We will see where my creative path leads next, but I believe many interesting things await me. I want to encourage all creative people not to be afraid to share their art, to pursue their dreams and, as ordinary as it may sound, never to give up. If you feel that this is what genuinely brings you joy, you need to dare — luck will come when you least expect it.