About the above animation:
In the third round, at Final, the sand story of Kseniya was about parents who gave birth to a son, the son has grown up, became successful and adult and forgot his old parents. Kseniya wanted the children to remember their father and mother — people who gave them lives — and call them. The resonance was enormous — people came to her in streets saying: «After watching your story, I took the phone and called my mom. I haven’t talk to for her a year. I called my mom after your story. Thank you very much! » Simonova said that these words were more than winning the show. During the interview with the judges in super-final, she said: «I’m not sure I want to win the show. But if a single person who didn’t call his Mom, will do it after my sand story — I will be more than a Winner!»
Kseniya Simonova first got noticed in 2009 when she won Ukraine's got talent with the above piece.
She's not just a student who'se studied english folklore and shakespeare and poetry and combined it with her art she's had a really complicated finding herself period where at one stage she was attending two uni's at once. To read more about it go here http://simonova.tv/en/story.
I really love the magic of her storys the narrative aren't always coherent it sometimes takes a couple of steps for you to realise what's happening but when you do they are just so romantic.
Here her latest short with Legend's of Russia, again another sand animation:
This film is devoted to Russian legends which found the reflection in the Russian background of the artist and author Kseniya Simonova: «When I was a child, my grandma told me stories full of mystery and honest beauty, tales and songs — they grew up in my soul, even earlier than I grew up. I am Russian, it is in my blood. I have always been inspired by different Russian things — from fairy-tales to Russian ballet. Since I started working with animation, I have been thinking on creating a Russian story, a fairy-tale, full of allegory and inner sense — as I could remember my childhood. Now the time has come, and the story is ready».
The characters of the film do not have either the exact names or exact origins, as well as the action. They all became a result of an imagination of a child who grew up on the Russian fairy-tales. At the same time, the characters can be related to the psychological types of a human inner mythology, something close to Carl Gustav Jung's theory of psychotypes. The Boy who becomes a Man -- Russian Bogatyr (hero), a Beauty who was stolen and found, the Evil Spirit... The Great Helpers -- Wisdom (Owl), Love (Lady-Swan), Courage (Horse), Movement (Fish), Power (Sward), and Great Enemies -- Evil Wisdom and Evil Beauty (the Syrin Bird), Destroying (Fire, Frosen Wind), Death (The Black Horror). Despite the eternal fight and dangers, the Boy saves the Beauty and they return together to the Golden City in the sky...
The film is a drawn animation created in the technique which was invented by Kseniya Simonova -- Plastic Animation.
Kseniya Simonova is a winner of «Ukraine's Got Talent» first audition, and originally is a as live performer of sand art. This year she is trying herself as an animation director and artist, and decided to use some new technique.
The music which you will hear there was created by Kseniya's creative partners — V.O.D.A. band from Ukraine, finalists of «Ukraine's Got Talent-3».
Kseniya Simonova says: «The Fairy-Tale lives inside each of us. Believe...»
When it says it's drawn animation i actually think it's an oil based kind of crayon that shes uses otherwise it would dry. I really like the development of her work into more colour and obviously she will of had a lot longer to work on this piece because it won't have been timed and judged. Although I really love it, my main criticism would be that I think as an animation it would work so much better without the hands being visible. I think it distracts from the story, and in the one she does have it without the hands in some parts, i think she should've just taken a bit more time to do that and then they would tv quality, short films before kids shows.
