I started in costume. I studied historical pattern making and began making costumes for theatre and performance, and at some point I realized I wanted to build the whole world around the actors, on stage or in the shot. So I went to the British Higher School of Art and Design in Moscow to study set design and scenography.

When I work with a director, I look for what sits between the lines of the text and for the symbols hidden inside the idea. Then I make that meaning concrete, something the audience can actually see in a fabric, a color, or an object on stage.

I also direct. In 2023 I made my first film, Walking in the Time of Uncertainty. Theatre is where I learned to work in costume, set, light and film at once, and I’ve kept moving between them ever since.