'I believe art is sex and sex is art': Step into the dripping pastel world of Ivan Alifan
His unique process includes hardening paint with wax and using cake icing tools to pipe paint onto his canvas
Artist Ivan Alifan's glazed dripping subjects might take a moment to register. Is that a melting porcelain figure or a guy covered in white goo? Or both?
Currently based in New York, the OCAD grad has a unique process. He experiments with pouring liquids such as gesso, paint and creams onto his models, then photographs them and paints canvases inspired by the photos. For Alifan, the paintings are meant to shatter sexual taboos with their "oddly satisfying" pastel liquid-dripping bodies and flowers.
We wanted to find out more about Alifan's process which includes hardening paint with wax and using cake icing tools to pipe paint onto his canvas. For our series "In Process," Alifan filmed three time-lapse videos that let us glimpse him at work in his plant-filled New York studio.
But before we take a look at his technique, we asked him a few questions to learn more about the ideas and processes behind his art.
Inspiration
How do you describe the style of your work?
Figurative, Romantic Contemporary Realism
How did you discover/develop your style?
I discover through play. When I was in school and studied abroad, I was fascinated with the glossy surface of porcelain figures and marble statues when I lived in Florence. It all came together when my friend participated in a photo shoot where I would slowly pour a bucket full of gesso over her. It was liberating because it created new reflective surfaces. I was freed from painting the traditional brown paintings and representing the human flesh realistically. I later pushed myself and started to experiment with slime, milk-based creams and non-toxic paint.
It all came together when my friend participated in a photo shoot where I would slowly pour a bucket full of gesso over her.- Ivan Alifan
Which other artists inspire you?
John Singer Sargent, Zorn, Cecily Brown, Jenny Saville, Kaye Donachie, John Currin and Peter Doig.
Materials and method
What are the materials that we see you use?
Oil is my preferred medium to paint with. I also use household materials like cake piping tools, kitchen utensils and pallet knives. In addition, I also use cold wax as a hardening medium, and I dilute my oils with a poppy seed mixture.
What is your go-to paint?
Gamblin and Old Holland.
How long does it take you to complete a painting, on average?
Two weeks.
Your work often looks like it's dripping or melting. How do you achieve this effect?
I create this effect by experimenting on my friends and models. I pour different liquids such as gesso, paint, dessert creams and slime over my subjects during a photo shoot. After, I bring it to Photoshop and start playing around with the image, creating collages until I'm happy with the result. I strive to create an image filled with sexual ambiguity.
I strive to create an image filled with sexual ambiguity.- Ivan Alifan
How would you describe your colour palette?
I recently noticed that my colour palettes are seasonal. During the winter I like to be surrounded by warm paintings — that's when I start creating more pastel-like Easter colour pieces. During summer when it's really hot outside, I tend to produce cold subdued-tone paintings. What I love about working with these colours is that they are reflections of my surroundings, or lack thereof. Living in a big city, and being constantly bombarded by red flashy advertisements, signs and posters, it feels overwhelming. For that reason, it's a struggle for me to use pure red and yellow colours. So when I go back to my studio, I connect very much with blues and grey tones because those are my colours that make me feel peaceful. Maybe it's because it takes me back to the winter days of Russia. This is what I love about colour and how powerfully it can affect the senses and trigger nostalgia.
The finished work
Do you get misconceptions about your art?
I do get a lot of misconceptions about my work. The biggest one is that I am sexually exploiting the female form. In reality, as a gay man, I'm drawing a comparison to the activities and sensations of women with the actions and sensations that I also experience. I am also empowering these activities in a society that thinks feminine sexuality is taboo.
What do you hope people take away from your work?
Besides the obvious sugar cream world reality that I portray, there is a darker and deeper exploration that is linked with our insatiable desires. To let the viewer explore their inner psyche and to provoke self awareness is what I hope to achieve in art. I believe art is sex and sex is art. For decades, sex in art was viewed as taboo and to this day it still remains the same, especially in a censored country like Russia. For me painting is a result of play, and I believe sometimes we take art too seriously.
Besides the obvious sugar cream world reality that I portray, there is a darker and deeper exploration that is linked with our insatiable desires.- Ivan Alifan
What keeps you going as an artist?
I'm very thrilled to wake up each day and know that I have the possibility to work on different projects, to work with new models, to set my own hours, explore galleries and travel for inspiration. The unpredictability of not knowing what I will paint or do tomorrow is what keeps me going as an artist.
Check out Ivan Alifan's final paintings below!
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