Lidia: I am very pleased when people watching my paintings have the same emotions I wanted to convey. Works are very joyful, bright, they inspire for good.
Did you find your own style finally?
Lidia: I think so. Of course, I do not know for sure what awaits me in the future. Though, of course, I admit that after 15 years I can do a sculpture or modern art. My style is also growing and changing. Bright colors and exotic pictures are the main features of my up to date style.
There is a trend of Ukrainian art in the world today. Why? What do you think?
Lidia: I do not know exactly, but I know that it's great. When I compare the works of foreign and Ukrainian artists I realize that we are doing at a very high level. We have much to be proud of.
It used to be that the artist must be hungry and poor to be able to create a masterpiece. Do you agree with this?
Lidia: No. I think that hungry and poor person can hardly devote himself to art, although, in the history there were such artists, as Van Gogh, Modigliani. Art does not accept any standards. But now times have changed.
How can the masterpiece be born? What distinguishes a masterpiece from the standard work?
Lidia: I think that there are no frameworks and standards in art. It is rather a matter of your own taste. I love Salvador Dali, for example. He's brilliant for me, like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. I love and contemporary art. At the same time there are such world famous artists, whom I do not understand.
But how can anyone distinguish the splashes of paint on a canvas from a really brilliant painting?
Lidia: It's more a question to art historians and picture-dealers. I am guided by my emotions only. 
Please, tell us about your evolution in art.
Lidia: Till 2011 I was engaged in graphics, the works were black and white, and then suddenly everything changed and the paintings became bright and fabulous. Now I use gold and silver to add joy to my works. Currently I work on the first picture of the new series. What will it be? It is a secret even for me, simply because the paintings are changing in the process. I like to create portraits as well, because the portrait conveys not only facial features, but also the inner world of a person.
Read: Mykola Kononenko and Yana Antonova: art will save our souls
What about the time you spend for one painting?
Lidia: It can take up to a month. I can work all day long seven days a week.
What would you like to change in terms of governmental support of Ukrainian artists?
Lidia: I think a lot depends on us. We have to learn all the time, to work hard, to participate in exhibitions. Now art is very actively developing in our country and a lot is changing for better in this sense.
What is your goal as the artist?
Lidia: I want to have a lot of personal exhibitions in Ukraine and abroad.
Editor’s words: Looking at Lidia’s works, I imagined the magical world of Kipling's stories: jungle with wonderful and amazing animals and their adventures. The paintings help you to get into your childhood and to feel carefree, fun and lightness of being. This is what we lack so much in our daily lives.
Interviewed by Anna Vishtak
Photos provided by Lidia Selianko
