"Create not to destroy" - Artist interview with Lesia Kvitka

Art is some kind of therapy. You can pay money to psychotherapists or you can make and reflect and create and I really believe that as humans we should create all together.

At Artivive we are always looking for hidden talents and stories that we can share with our community. This time we got inspired by an innovative artist named Lesia Kvitka.

Lesia Kvitka is a new media artist from Eastern Ukraine living in Vienna. She blends generative art, augmented reality, experimental media, and traditional techniques to create immersive artworks. Her work, influenced by her personal experience of leaving Ukraine, explores art as a healing tool, and a way to collaborate with other artists. In her work, you are also introduced to the connections between biological systems, space, human brains, and artificial intelligence. She mentioned that to her “Art is some kind of therapy. You can pay money to psychotherapists or you can make and reflect and create and I really believe that as humans we should create all together”

Her artistic work has been recognized in exhibitions in Austria, the UK, Brazil, and Spain. This year, Kvitka received a grant from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service, and Sport (BMKÖS). She was also chosen for the “Biophony: Dancing Nature” residency at MolinoLab in Spain, where she explores how nature, humanity, and technology can blend to create something new. But here at Artivive, we got to know her thanks to a project she did with Olga Verbytska at the ‘Coffee Junkie’ coffee shop in Vienna.

Coffee Junkie meets AR

One of Lesia’s projects involved creating a banner for a local coffee shop, Coffee Junkie, together with the owner of the shop Olga Verbytska and the Pen&Paper Agency. This collaboration aimed to draw attention to the café during unexpected renovations. It was hard to let the customers of Coffee Junkie know that they were still open, and therefore, by integrating Augmented Reality with Artivive into a banner outside of the shop, Lesia was able to get the audience’s attention to the coffee shop and keep them engaged. The use of AR brought a fresh dimension to the café’s promotional efforts and had a positive impact on customer engagement, as people were intrigued and engaged by the original display.

Vienna‘s ARtScape

Next, Lesia is animating several graffiti pieces across Vienna using Artivive, for a project called Vienna‘s ARtScape. Sponsored by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service, and Sport (BMKÖS), this project aims to showcase that art exists beyond museums and attract tourists to lesser-known areas of Vienna. She mentioned that the art is still a work in progress, but some of the AR artworks are already working, and we can’t wait to see them! The art is absolutely gorgeous, so next time you see a piece of graffiti on the streets of Vienna, try scanning it with the Artivive app!

Lesia advises new and inspiring artists to have a purpose for their art: “I believe that the main mission of people should be to create, not to destroy.” You can see this message translated into her art. She believes that every human being should continuously create and explore, and encourages artists to remain curious and embrace new tools and techniques. Lesia showcases the importance of collaboration, experimentation, and the belief that art is a powerful tool for connection and expression.

If you want to learn more about Lesia’s work, you can find her on Instagram, or read her website: https://lesiakvitka.com/.

If you want to know more about the ‘Coffee Junkie’ coffee shop, you can find their Instagram here.

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Written by Annemare Hartholt.

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