WORDS OF WISDOM IN MONACO
HM: Daria, you are now a well-known artist. What milestones do you
believe to have been important in your work?
DU: Back at the very start of my artistic journey in 2006, my works
were accepted at the Guggenheim Museum Foundation, in New
York. Later on, when I lived in Geneva, the last prince of Egypt, Fuad,
son of Farukh, visited my exhibition. He purchased my ancient Egypt
series for his collection. Nowadays, I am an official artist for the
Principality of Monaco. When I first arrived in Monaco, I produced
the Monte-Carlo landscapes se-
ries («Dragonfly Helicopters»,
«Casino Roofs» reminiscent of
Louis Vuitton logos, a view from
Monte-Carlo Beach etc.). I then
started working on the Princely
Family portraits: Princess Grace,
Prince Rainier, Princess Caro-
line, Princess Stéphanie and, of
course, Princess Charlene and
Prince Albert. When the last of the portraits was finished, I felt like
gifting it to the one concerned. I thus had the honour of personally
showing and gifting my work to Prince Albert on the occasion of
my exhibition at the Grimaldi Forum. The Prince was struck by the
number of his family tree photos that I used in creating this amazing
collage — the book of life. He then gave me the mission of drawing
a portrait of his children!
actress became a princess! What other proof do you need than that!
This is the «Dream Collage» that I replicate in action!
HM: What is success for Daria Usova? What does it take to be suc-
cessful?
DU: Success is a logical consequence of everything that you love
doing, in my case it is art! Here is my favourite scene from Lewis Car-
roll’s «Through the Looking Glass». It is an interesting conversation
between Alice and the Queen:
– Well, in our country, you’d gen-
erally get to somewhere else — if
you run very fast for a long time, as
we’ve been doing?
– Now, here, you see, it takes all
the running you can do, to keep in
the same place. If you want to get
somewhere else, you must run at
least twice as fast!
Here is what I think. We must do what we love to «move mountains».
And that means running twice as fast.
My wealth is in my creative
ideas! I am Russian, and
therefore draw my ideas from
an authentic Russian culture
that believes in miracles!
HM: Have you ever experienced a life-changing event that trans-
formed your lookout on things?
DU: Creating my unique «Pieces Art» collage technique was a mile-
stone. This is a personal tool that I patented in 2003, giving me a
place or a niche, if you like, in the history of contemporary art. My
«Dream Collage» is a book of life dwelling on the past, present and
the aspired future. This is more than just a painting. This is a story
with its trajectory and a composition as unique as that of a retina, a
fingerprint or DNA. It makes you remember your dreams, go for them
and focus on an inevitable victory!
The Principality of Monaco gave me tremendous energy, strength
and inspiration. This is the place where dreams come true, where an
HM: You also made a portrait of Princess Grace…
DU: Yes, indeed. This Collage («Princess Grace» 2015, 120×90) uses
more than 600 photographs depicting the life of this wonderful
woman. This is a transformation of a successful Hollywood actress
into the beautiful Princess of Monaco; true evidence that miracles do
happen and the most daring dreams come true! By the way, this is
the main idea behind my art! The image of my heroine, concise and
expressive, comes from one of my favourite Alfred Hitchcock movies
«The Rear Window». The collage conveys the Hollywood atmosphere:
Cary Grant shots, the «Oscar» Award ceremony, a yacht filmed for
the movie «High Society». A special place in this work is given to the
meeting with Prince Rainier, their famous romantic photo session and
their legendary wedding in St. Nicholas Cathedral. This photo series
is designed to reflect Grace’s transformation into the new, truly his-
torical figure she became. Not incidentally, one of her last roles in the
cinema is that of a princess in the «Swan»! She is indeed a swan trans-
formed into a princess. This collage also portrays the creation of the
Grand Big Family and their famous Red Cross Ball and Rose Ball with
Frank Sinatra performing in the Monaco Sporting. We are witness-
ing Monte-Carlo radiating the Hollywood atmosphere on the French
Riviera! Grace has shaped an entire era in a way that people are still
looking for this sensation of success, happiness and light here in Mo-
naco! This whole story is portrayed in my collage. I produce miracles
and magic so that we can live according to our dreams!
«Grace Kelly», 2015
Hello Monaco Winter 2019–2020 / 31
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