ND: You had a lot of training in various techniques in art school. Did you specialize in any one specific area, since I see that all of your early works are generally lithographs and etchings?
VP: Yes. Everyone had to chose what he or she wanted to study after the 9th grade. The options were to specialize in either paintings or graphics - the two major subjects. I chose to join the Graphics Department. After I had graduated from school, I passed the exams and entered the Academy of Fine Arts. Then I studied in the Print Department from 1974 to 1980. Ukrainian and Russian art was very conservative at the time. Social Realism was popular, but it was boring to me. I wanted to avoid doing this type of work so I chose to specialize in book design because it gave me an enormous amount of freedom. I was illustrating Russian, European and American classical works and no longer limited by the boundaries of Socialist Realism.
ND: So you did not need to paint Soviet Realism paintings?.
VP: Exactly. Another option was to continue to study in the print department, but they forced you to do a particular type of composition. The Poster Department was an even a worse option if you wanted to get away from Soviet Realism. An advantage we had in the book designing department was that our works were relatively small in size and mostly in black and white. So it was much easier to enter works into big exhibitions without drawing too much attention. The big bold paintings drew much of the immediate response. If I had done exactly the same with painting as I did with illustrations I would never have been accepted into any exhibitions.
ND: When did you do your first book illustrations? Did you do any while you lived in the Ukraine?
VP: Yes. I did illustrations for numerous classical and contemporary Russian writers. I illustrated Shukshin, a very famous Russian writer and film maker who died quite young. I was accused that my illustrations were influenced by Chagall. They were very colorful with lots of spontaneous images.
ND: So you were doing color illustrations at the time?
VP: Yes, I was doing color particularly with gouache.
ND: And was the book ever printed?
VP: It was never printed. To get a work to a publisher is a different story. It was just part of the requirements for the academy.
ND: So this was done while you were a student.
VP: Yes.
ND: Did you finish your formal training?
VP: Yes, I finished in 1980. I then received a three year grant from the Academy of Fine Art of USSR. Then was awarded another grant for two years from the Association of Fine Art of the USSR.
ND: Now I am looking at a few of the etchings which I have in my own collection. I have a number of etchings like "The Highest Mountain", which is dated 1985. In this etching, it seems as if the subject matter is a pile of very desperate things that have been thrown away or blown together by a tornado. Are these particular etchings being done for any assignment or is this your own independent creative work?
VP: These are definitely my own independent work. These were done in Senej - an artist residence near Moscow.
ND: So you worked in Senej?
VP: In 1981 I was invited to participate in a group exhibition of graphic artists. As one of the youngest members of this group I completed a series of etchings entitled "Photograph of Ancient Kiev". My work was well received and I was invited often to Senej - almost every year. I later received a studio there.
ND: You mentioned doing something on old Kiev. Is this one of the works from the series which I have in my collection? I found these extremely interesting.
VP: Correct. In 1981 this work was very unusual and reproduced in a book entitled "Young Russian Artists". There was an interview on Moscow Central TV and some of the artists which were presenting this show mentioned my name and showed the work on the program. They mentioned that I was exhibiting these works in a print exhibition in the Ukraine. The second day of the exhibition, my works disappeared. I still cannot find out why they were taken. They were replaced by some socialist realism work. One person at the exhibition told me that the curator from the Communist party did not need to explain what had happened.
ND: It sounds that when you came to this country you had the opportunity to sort of explore, experiment and perfect new techniques, but that you also found much greater freedom in terms of what you could do, exhibit and sell. So your situation as an artist was improved in a number of different dimensions when you moved here?