alt: April 2015

Orion’s belt, drawn from memory ; for Jessie – traded for dinner ; Melbourne, 2013

Miso, aka Stanislava Pinchuk, is a Ukranian-born artist living and working in Melbourne & Tokyo. Having moved from her native country to Australia at the age of 10, Miso went on to study a double major in Art History and Philosophy at the University of Melbourne. Her work has been commissioned for establishments like Chanel and Ballet Australia, and she regularly features in both group and solo exhibitions as well as publishing her own beautiful zines. Upcoming endeavours include a homeware collaboration and a teaching post in NYC, however (even with all these intriguing projects considered), her most captivating creations are her unique, personal, home-made tattoos.

Upon reading the first volume of the quietly vibrant In Clover at the end of last year, I turned the pages to encounter several intimate portraits I had long been saving to my laptop inspo folders but blindly not known the source of. Finely inked moments appear across collarbones, in the crease of an elbow, caressing soft ribs and along the contours of shoulder blades like a fleeting settle of snowflakes. Fragile branches, delicate wildflowers and diaphanous constellations pepper each complexion as manifestations of memory, space and geography turned back on the body.

In Clover, pic from my VSCOgrid

The epitome of unique, personal body art in our time saturated by meaningless slogans and stencils, Miso's pieces have stemmed from her experience with intricate embroidery and detailed cutting work and often feature constellations significant to the recipient. Each becomes an intimate, individualised moment of friendship and reciprocation, as what makes each design so special is that she accepts no payment, and does not bestow these imprints upon just any stranger. Instead, Miso works with trades - work from fellow artists otherwise beyond her price range, clothes and shoes from fashion designer friends, dinners, tailoring, furniture, jewellery, good books, bottles of whiskey, house-plants and road trips... This exchange of a meaningful, permanent etching for gifts, resources, sustenance, shelter, or even an experience forms the core of Miso's work here, benefitting her and others in ways far more rewarding than a simple monetary sum.

Dealing in things that money can't buy hasn't just meant receiving beautiful or thoughtful items, but has also helped within her wider work life. She has traded for assistants, photography work, website help, a hand installing a show, technical advice, or a free place to stay while travelling and working. This home-made venture of mutual exchange creates a dialogue of collaboration and community, with artists, makers and doers coming together to share tools, knowledge, opportunities and experiences. Miso's favourite trade so far was with a friend called Sophie in Sydney - "she lives on a boat and I traded for a trip around the beautiful harbour there on a really sparkly summer day. We sailed under the bridge and jumped off the boat and swam with the jellyfish." With all the bother of money and mindless commerce well out of the picture, the endless possibilities of a significant, memorable trade between friends can end up being as beautiful and poetic as the inky starred imprint itself.