Nickie Zimov: 'For an Artist, Art Is Like a Diary'

by Alexandra Mansilla

Nickie Zimov: 'For an Artist, Art Is Like a Diary'

20 Feb 2025

"As Long As You'll Be Here"/"Devotion" series by Nickie Zimov

Nickie Zimov is a self-taught artist from Russia who started exploring art at a very young age. Art in all forms — music (he plays almost every instrument), painting, comics, storytelling — has always been a part of his life. His parents worked in a factory but had a deep love for the arts. Their home was packed with art books and reproductions of Delacroix and Caravaggio, and growing up surrounded by that, Nickie naturally dived into the world of colour, the beauty of the human body, and finding inspiration in the smallest details.

Now part of koshta.collective, Nickie exhibited at Art Dubai Digital last year and continues to push forward — collaborating with brands, refining his artistic voice, and making music. His next stop is Karak On the Dhow, where he is the artist behind an installation created in partnership with koshta.collective and The Sandy Times. We sat down with Nickie to talk about the messages behind his work, whether he sees himself in his art, what he is preparing for Karak On the Dhow, and what’s next on his creative journey.

— Hey Nickie! I know you are a completely self-taught artist. But you come from a creative family — your mom used to sew, right? Can you tell me a little about that? And where are you from? Tell me everything, please!

— I grew up in the streets of a small industrial town with a population of just 30,000. My parents worked in a factory, but they were always into creative things. My dad painted, and my mom played piano and violin.

There were always musical instruments in our home. My dad would bring things from the factory — random trumpets, percussion, whatever ended up in his hands.

There were always books, too. New ones kept appearing — my dad would bring them, and I would eagerly flip through them.

And there was always art. Reproductions of Delacroix and Caravaggio hung on the walls, and they became something deeply important to me. They fascinated me, and at some point, I started copying them as best I could. That is how I slowly learned about colour.

It all happened naturally, without any pressure. No one forced me to go to art school. No one made me learn how to play an instrument. I did everything on my own — just because I was genuinely interested.

And when everyone else in school started falling in love for the first time, I decided I was more interested in understanding materials, studying, and creating. I started writing erotic stories and sketching people and bodies. By the time I was 20, I had started working with nude figure drawing.

— Wait… erotic stories?

— Yeah, I started writing them when I was about 10. I just liked putting those ideas into words. What fascinated me the most was the absurdity of it all. The plots were just ridiculously silly.

At some point, I realised that everyone around me was reading them while I was endlessly generating more versions — completely nonsensical ones. Maybe it shaped me in some way over time, but back then, I wasn’t really digging deep into it. It just felt bold and absurd, and I liked that.

"A Wave Goodbye"/"Devotion" series by Nickie Zimov

— Once, you also mentioned you loved drawing comics!

— Oh, absolutely! I used to draw these completely ridiculous comics, fully fleshed out with details, and then I would bring them to school. People would actually trade them — like, for gum, snacks, whatever. Some even collected them and swapped them around.

It was definitely my way of socialising — drawing attention to myself.

— You also make music! Did you ever take lessons, or did you teach yourself? And what do you play?

— Never took any lessons. I learned by myself — mainly because our house was full of instruments. I would just pick them up, figure things out, and my dad would guide me a little. Music was everywhere, and I absorbed it constantly.

I guess I can play anything — guitars, drums, harmonica. And if I can’t, I can learn quickly.

— Random question — what did you study?

— Russian language and literature. I even worked as a teacher for a while!

"Mirrors" by Nickie Zimov

— No way! As far as I remember, your first professional works were around 2012 or 2013 — the “Mirrors” series, right? Tell me about it.

— Back then, I thought it would be interesting to capture myself while I was young — especially since I didn’t have a proper camera. So, I decided to sketch my youth instead. Who knows how I will look in ten years or what will happen to me?

I started playing around with Matisse-like colour palettes, and somehow, everything just came together. At some point, I realised I was the perfect model for my own work.

— Do colours have any specific meaning in your paintings?

— Now, yes. Before, I just worked with whatever I had. When I moved to St. Petersburg, I spent all my money on four paints — carmine, white, an insanely expensive violet, and black.

Now, every colour on my canvas reflects my emotional state. Red always carries a bit of melancholy. Green is about calmness. Brown feels like control. Beige, on the other hand, represents uncertainty, a suspended state.

When a single shade dominates a painting, when it fills almost all the space — that always means something significant. It captures a prevailing feeling at the moment.

— Are there any of your works that tell us about you?

— Almost everything I have done in the last three years is a self-portrait. But they either look like false memories or some kind of fantasies. Either way, I’m always there in the story.

The women in my paintings don’t exist in real life. I find it hard to paint real people I know — it just looks awkward. Even when I paint myself, I can’t leave it exactly as is. I always mix in feminine features and blend them into my image.

— Let us take one of your works and find you in it. For example, this one — where are you in it?

— I had a long "Asian period." We were planning to travel across Asia for a while, and during that time, I started diving deeper into the culture, meeting people, and getting inspired. At some point, I thought — why not try to reflect that in my work?

It was also a way to feel like a part of the culture — like spending a day in South Korea, but through my art.

I ended up making three whole series featuring Asian women. I became fascinated with the idea of deliberate staging — where every detail in the frame was placed intentionally, nothing accidental. I wanted the image to feel like it had been prepared for its moment, something calculated but memorable.

— How did your collaboration with koshta.collective begin?

— Pure chance! And such a lucky one! Rapper i61 was releasing his book "Breakdown" with artist Anton Reva, and they were hosting a pop-up exhibition at kosha.collective.

They asked me to create a soundtrack for the exhibition, something that would set the mood. I made something completely wild that fit the atmosphere perfectly. They ended up playing it on a loop all day — it blended into the space so naturally that visitors didn’t even realise how much the music shaped their experience.

That is how I got involved with koshta.collective. At first, Jenya [Ed. note — the founder of kosha.collective] only reached out to me for music — she knew I made soundtracks but had no idea I was also a visual artist. But last year, that changed. She saw my paintings and started pushing me as a painter.

Without her, I think I would view my work very differently. Sometimes, being asked to do something outside your comfort zone is exactly what helps you move forward.

— And so, with koshta.collective, you exhibited at Art Dubai. What was your piece?

— It was a video about movement, about process — how things are constantly happening in every second of our lives, but we rarely notice them.

Nickie Zimov at Art Dubai

— Your next stop is Karak On the Dhow [Ed. note — it is happening on February 22], where an art installation by koshta.collective and The Sandy Times will be on display. And you’re the artist behind it. What can we expect?

— A video piece again. I have rethought the idea of movement — it has evolved into something about the fear of anticipation. That stretched-out, anxious, nervous, excited kind of waiting. It will be a series of short shots — sometimes separate, sometimes interwoven.

The whole thing is tied together by the idea of waiting for something unknown. And most likely, I will add my own music to it as well.

— Any other projects you are working on that you would like to announce?

— I really want to do exhibitions across Europe this year. Maybe even in some mystical, trickster-like way! I have actually sent other people to represent me at exhibitions before — they would introduce themselves as me and talk about my work. Sometimes, the trick even got exposed!

— To wrap things up, I would love to ask about the music you create. Are you working on anything you can share?

— Of course! I’m currently working on a concept-heavy, avant-garde album. It is about the main character drifting into sleep, entering this murky, subconscious space. The music shifts harmonies, tonalities, and rhythms — sometimes, four genres change within a single track. There are layers of noise and textural elements.

In the end, the main character doesn’t want to wake up because the dream is exactly where they want to be.

— And the last one: does your art always come from something personal?

— Always. Art is like a diary. A way to document moments, emotions, and experiences — not just with words, but with images and sound.

by Alexandra Mansilla