Artists

Artist Spotlight : Stella Arion

2 November 2023
Article by Weston Tailor-Foley | 20 MIN READ

Islington is a special and well versed borough to me. Even in the rain, its’ townhouse hues seem to always succumb to the close-by nature greens, rendering any shade of grey emotionally fleeting.

It’s an area of London that seems so small and so large, all at the same time. Areas like this will always have the ability to surprise you. For example, the artist I was interviewing today, lived on a property on a street I had never walked, never knew had even existed until the car came to a stop. A sign and potential theme of the day maybe?

Emerging artist Stella Arion’s sculptures are intriguing and enticing. Bravely transitioning from a 20 year career in fashion to one in fine art, her story I’m sure would hold some surprises of its own. To date, our communication had been filtered through the gallery’s team, so this would the first time we would have directly spoken to, or seen each other.

Hellos and greetings given and received, I was welcomed by a home of artistic design; its’ open floor, double height ceilings – not unusual characteristics of Islington properties. From first glance, Stella’s home would be a perfect space for entertaining and taking a moment to just breathe. Full advantage of this gallery-like, foliage-draped setting had been taken, as her sculptures stood displayed with precision and care – sculptures that will undoubtedly be soon finding their way like the others before, to homes around the world.

Introduced and acclimatised we sit. Coffee in her hand, my customary cup of hot water in mine, our conversations seamlessly continue.

Stella Arion, 2023 · Image © The Thomas-Ferdinand Gallery

"The focus of my study is my internal world, filled with powerful and wild places of nature…emotions, contemplation on different parts…the connection with love, distance, void, losses, but nature is where I’m cooking all of that."

Freedom from form

Stella is open, direct and deliberate, sure of what she is doing, and why she is doing it. An artist through and through, she tells me that her playful creativity emerged in early childhood.

Recalling an early memory, she shares; “Me and my friend, we were around 5 years old, and we really felt that we would like to know how it feels to be a “proper” woman. So we created fake breasts, tied different scarves, and added other items, and started to walk around our local area…we went to buy bread, and we just talked to neighbours, telling them that we are already adults. I can remember that no one was laughing and we had loads of fun. I think it was the first creative journey I can imagine. A journey of transformation.”

Whilst listening to Stella, it is this importance of self-expression that was consistently felt. Born in Russia, migrating to the UK in 2010, and now a British Citizen, she “left because I never felt fully comfortable expressing myself….It was 2009, and in Moscow you had to wear something special, you needed to say something, so you needed to be a shape.” A destination of chance however, Stella “never actually planned to move to London… it just happened.”

Reflecting on her current home, Stella’s tone and demeanour finds its’ release; “Here [London], you don’t need to be anything, just be yourself, and figure out who you are, instead of the shape that you want to carry.”

For Stella, the celebration of mental and artistic freedom both pursues and fuels her.

Her love and admiration for the freedom she has found in London is clear, and after 13 years she’s still able to reflect on this. “The place that I was born was Rostov-on-Don. It’s the capital of the south of Russia, but we don’t have museums there, so this for me is the kind of thing missing. How are you going to grow culturally if you’re not in these to places? We also grew up in this country during the Soviet Union, there was a major idea about being equal…[but] if you don’t have this money you can not develop yourself, you can not expose yourself to anything….In the UK, you go so many places, even tiny towns, and there are a lot of galleries on the streets…and when I came to London I was like WOW…the fact that you can go to all museums for free, it gives you so much freedom no matter how much money you have…To me, this allows us the possibility to be culturally equal.”

These years have inevitably changed her deeply, making her realise that she doesn’t need to belong to a singular place. “I know I can never become British…and I am not Russian anymore,” She recounts a cherished metaphor, “It’s like you never belong to anything fully…instead of being a tree, you’re becoming a plant in your own pot, and you’re moving this pot from place to place.”

Connecting inner and outer worlds

Stella’s identity and artistry finds its anchor in the interconnectedness of thought, emotion, and nature. This unity was spurred by an experience studying meditation at Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Northern India; an unexpected gift from a past client.

Of this time she reflects; “I was getting this complete silence, except to train in meditation. It was an absolutely new path to me…Through this I discovered how important it is to connect with nature.”

This outward and inward connection is intrinsic to Stella’s creative process. Whilst describing the intricate, somewhat itemised processes of her thoughts, she muses; “The focus of my study is my internal world, filled with powerful and wild places of nature… emotions, contemplation on different parts…the connection with love, distance, void, losses, but nature is where I’m cooking all of that.”.

We witness this vividly in her art, in particular her collection ‘Garden’s of Love’, a series of stoneware and porcelain sculptures that echo the remnants of expunged volcanic lava and jagged ancient rock. Here Stella “…wanted to be as authentic as possible….I found out that the topic I’m working with is about intimacy, connection and love, and the disability of experiencing this love…the focus is on if someone died, or if you separated…it’s kind of a study of this weight that exists – how to overcome it.”

Once Stella’s introspections and environments have filled her banks of inspiration, her next step is the creation of solitude, using music as a catalyst; “I’m trying to be detached as much as possible from this world around me.”

Yet, when describing the depths of this solitude, it wasn’t a loneliness that was felt, as she shares “people around me are living the same lifestyle”. Her cadence denotes a sense of comfort and community in shared solitude – a collective respect for distance and individuality.

Fittingly, Stella’s artistic practice has been boldly prioritised to give shape to her identity. “I made a decision that my responsibility is just research, inspiration, creation…So I don’t want to think about my impact on future generations, or wider impression… Because I think that when you are putting such huge tasks on yourself, it’s almost like you’re breaking your own back.”

This ethos hardens the bulwark against external pressures and potential critiques, freeing her from the inevitable weight of expectation many artists seem to face. The onus of how the world perceives Stella’s art doesn’t rest on her shoulders, she won’t allow it to. For, while acknowledging the power of her own emotions, she also understands their subjectivity and unpredictability. “I always feel that I could have my opinion, but I’d like to leave or listen to opinions of others…I can see that people interact with my work in two different ways,…dark or caressing…and I don’t understand how the same work can produce such different feelings.”

As an artist, Stella has learnt the importance of letting go, adding, “It’s not your responsibility how the world is going to perceive it, if [the] world is going to accept it, or reject it, or what is going to happen.”

Philosophy and values

Stella approach to art and life is refreshing and inspiring, urging all to embrace the hard truths and remain anchored in your own core beliefs. “I think this journey is creating this inner strength, and this inner strength is something that no one can take away,” she meditates. This resilience has become a beacon for her in times of challenge.

When reflecting on her career transition she confesses, “fashion was my love for 20 years, and I didn’t know what to do after burning out.” Yet, this led her to a new path, where she could reinvent herself and “literally allow myself to become a new artist, finally.” It was this resilience and internal strength that moved her to apply to the Royal College of Art, and set her on the path she now resides.

A rigorous work ethic driven by unfiltered passion is clear even before she shares, “I’m kind of obsessed about my work… I love so much what I do.” She remains grounded and appreciative, “I have a very interesting life….it’s the ultimate dream to have such a freedom…”

To Stella, the process is as important as the outcome. But so is understanding oneself, and one’s chosen field with a clarity and conviction. In this vain, her thirst for knowledge and growth is so intense it’s almost tangible. She is observant, driven, and thus seeks and embraces her need to evolve.

As an example, when lecturing at the London College of Fashion she noticed a deficit in the students’ practical and professional knowledge; “I realised that a lot of [students] think that we are fashion stylists because it’s a beautiful field…that is the worst ideal about the profession, because you’re worked like a camel….There’s no bridge between education and the professional field. Very often you kind of need to figure out by yourself, but how?”

Years later, after graduating and experiencing the same as a visual artist, she applied this observation to her own development “I made a decision that I want to study the business of art, so I really want to understand how this industry works, and this is what I am doing at the moment.”

This venture is analogous, like “studying a map of where I’m going to move.” Even so, she maintains an integrity in her artistry, balancing a need for industry know-how, with her need for authenticity, freedom and individuality; “I don’t want to become someone who’s always in trance of doing something in order to sell.”

To budding artists or anyone charting their course in life, Stella’s advice draws from an intriguing perspective: start with the negatives – a view fuelled by the writer Elizabeth Gilbert.

“I read a sentence in a book that I love so much [by] Elizabeth Gilbert…and she said that when we are choosing something we are always focusing on these delicious parts….I think it’s very interesting because I would always focus on the positives, and become so frustrated about negatives, that sometimes I feel like a can not go through. But if you start with the negatives,…and if you can do all of that, do you still feel you want to be [in that profession]? And if you saying yes, then ok, cool, go for it.”

Beyond the Sculptures

Stella’s reflections are a rare glimpse into a mind of an artist in conscious flux, consistently challenging her boundaries and pushing her horizons.

Much like the young girl unabashedly forming and sharing her own chosen identity, she continues to form, reform, and share without fear; “I have so much energy inside of me, and so much to say.”

So what of the future? At the time of writing, Stella was wrapping up an unique residency in Chile, South America; a return to the very basics of ceramic making, in the heart of nature; “This is quite an unusual residency for me…because we are going to dig clay in the desert…connect to the earth, and we are going to do pit firing” – a tradition practice that dates back to the pre-Columbian era.

Stella’s passion for authenticity, variety and connection ignites her creative spirit. It was this common thread that drew her to The Thomas-Ferdinand Gallery; “we are on the same page, what you do as a gallery, as a platform [to] bring people together, exploring multiple areas; then that is not just the art, it is to [create] community. I like that it’s a multi layered space…It’s not just a gallery that is just representing artists…it’s many many other things to me.”

There are no more boxes for Stella, and beyond her own art form, she admires pioneers in other domains, like theatre’s Robert Wilson, a theatre director based in New York, who’s a great source of fascination to her. “One of my very important creative influences is Robert Wilson. I adore his work, but I also love the fact that, being a theatre director, he does not limit himself to just that field. He is also creating art pieces and producing bespoke furniture.”

Such interdisciplinary inspirations point to a mirroring journey for Stella; that of performance, direction, collaborations and functional applications of her works. Her upcoming ambitions are brimming with innovation, and from what I had already learnt, this didn’t come as a surprise. Stella envisions a move to creating immersive experiences for her audience, adding more movement than sculpture alone; “For me sculpture is too silent…I would like to create this exhibition, also a show…almost like a interactive sculptor theatre. I would like to prepare someone going there to go through a journey, so not just to go through a room and see the sculptures, and that’s it.”

All in all, Stella’s artistry progresses as a balanced mix of self-reflection and artistic fervour. Her creations will always surprise and challenge, as she herself, a perpetually evolving entity, will forever be inspired by the diverse worlds, emotions and experiences she encounters.

Her perspectives should encourage us to grasp fully, and remain loyal to our foundational values, a signal for our own narratives to resonate with determination.

I feel that this is just the beginning of an exciting journey, and The Thomas-Ferdinand Gallery can honestly say we can look forward to all the surprises that come next.

To find out more about Stella’s influences and artworks, read her bio, see available work to buy from our shop, or get in contact for further enquiries.

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Artist Spotlight : Stella Arion