The Russian Ark  Do you remember your first encounter with art? 

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Valeria Privalikhina  It is difficult to remember any one particular encounter. I was born into a family of artists and our house has always been filled with paintings and art books. One thing that I clearly recall is that as a kid, my favourite album had the reproductions of Edgar Degas.

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RA  Where did you spend your childhood? Did it influence your artistic practice? 

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VP  I grew up in a small Siberian town on the banks of the Yenisei river among mountains and close to the forest, so nature has continuously fascinated me. Perhaps this surrounding taught me to love subdued natural colours; it is difficult to rival nature in this sort of perfection.

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RA  What excites you the most in the painting process?

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VP  I am most thrilled when starting the work, when I lay the foundation for future paintings. What counts the most is the first impressions and first emotions arising from the subject matter, which I try to transport to the canvas as fast as I can before the freshness of the feelings wears out or fatigue kicks in. 

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RA  Which great masters paved the way for you and influenced the way you think about your art?

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VP  My list is infinite. At different stages, I learnt first from some, then from others. In a hindsight, the greatest influences have been Joaquín Sorolla, Édouard Vuillard, Claude Monet and Valentin Serov.