“I want to create spatial, sculptural and digital installations with a message,” says the cutting-edge 3D artist and animator.
Animation aficionados will experience an instant sense of warmth browsing reels created by Ukrainian animator Nadiia Pliamko. Ranging from the cutely curious to the grotesque, her films are saturated with odd and uncomfortable details – both visual and in motion – that remind us we live in a world that is anything but straightforward.
And the aforementioned warmth? Well, Nadiia’s work is reminiscent of the wonderful work of auteurs like Jan Švankmajer and Jirí Barta, the Czech stop-motion animators who likewise relished in semiconscious prodding of the subconscious, mowing down socialist realism with freakishness wrapped in baroque levels of detail for films that are comfortably traditional yet strangely unsettling.
Nature Kosmos triptych
Stills from World Worry Web
Indeed, Švankmajer is a major influence on Nadiia. “I admire his cold approach to hot topics,” she says. “The puppetry accentuates the horror. I use lower frame rates to trigger that specific grotesque association. It’s the magic and terror of depersonalisation. Sometimes I want the viewer to drown in pleasure, other times I strip everything back to expose a cold mental immunity to the ambiguity of the modern world.”
Originally from central Ukraine, Nadiia has relocated to Tallinn, Estonia, because of the war. She’s poked around with Blender; animated in fashion, music and computer gaming; and after completing her studies, directs short films for festivals as well as continuing some of her client work.
The inspiration for her films often begins with poems, written by herself and others, that bring together observations and amusing and ugly episodes in everyday life. “I graft these mundane observations onto surreal settings, imbuing them with Jungian magic to create a sense of intimacy with the viewer. I love wrapping a core of anxiety or cognitive deadlock in escapist, elegant forms – it’s about making the uncomfortable beautiful,” Nadiia explains.
Bring Back the Color music promo
Digital sculptures/symbols for What If
What If full video
Last year, she collaborated with the choreographer Christoph Winkler and poet Claudia Rankine on one of her favourite projects so far, What If. Nadiia’s imaginative, often hideous 3D sculptures augment the motion of a dancer, giving meaning to the poetry, which explores change, resistance to change, and the stifling of feeling. Other client work has included a stunning and somewhat softer piece for MTV’s Embrace Equity campaign, promoting gender equality.
Even for a 15-second spot, worldbuilding is crucial to Nadiia’s approach, and she likes to control every line and every detail, believing that viewers engage not just with the imagery but with the effort that goes into it – whether original or not. “They empathise with the struggle behind the work. Worldbuilding, for me, is cellular. I start with the smallest graphic element and scale up to an ontology in which symbols and physics make sense,” she says.
To achieve unique worlds and characters that embody her vision, Nadiia constantly experiments with visual tools. Augmented reality, animated 3D scans, AI – these and other technologies will play a role, depending on the project. Currently, she wears two Rokoko motion capture suits, capturing micro gestures and acting out scenes of discomfort to convey a sense of genuineness and fragility in the creatures she creates.
One of Nadiia’s latest projects is an immersive exhibition called Ab Mala Usque Ad Ovo – a reversal of the Latin idiom ‘from eggs to apples’. It collages painted pieces by Julia Valtanen with Nadiia’s 3D animations such that the viewer can connect the ideas and symbols in the visuals via their own thoughts and feelings, and perhaps consider the complexity of their own psyche.
Into the future, Nadiia hopes to continue working with both brands and other creatives. “I believe even commercial projects – especially in fashion or music – can be more than just retinal irritants; they can offer a moment of clarity. I’m looking for more interdisciplinary collaborations because, in today’s visual noise, only the intersectional – the borderline – can truly hook the viewer and pull them in.”
All the while, she’s sending moral support and money to her family in Ukraine. If you’d also like to help, even a small amount can make a difference via Ukraine Aid International.
