Cyrill Rafael Vasilyev won the Pastel Runner Up Award in Jackson\u2019s Art Prize this year with his work Most Peculiar Circumstance<\/em>. In this interview, Cyrill discusses how self-imposed limitations help bind his creative process together, the way he fictionalises his own experiences to create a sense of world-building in his work, and the portals created by his human-like canvases.<\/p>\n Above image: <\/strong>Cyrill out and about<\/small><\/p>\n Josephine: Could you share the story of how you became an artist and tell us more about your artistic background?<\/strong><\/p>\n Cyrill: I grew up in Moscow. There are no artists in my family \u2014 my parents were loving and supportive, but there wasn\u2019t really a role model for doing art as a living, or for being an artist. I thought about it constantly, of course, and it took me a long time to accept that this was what I really wanted to do \u2014 that I didn\u2019t want to let it go, so I had to commit.<\/p>\n During my childhood, I was lucky enough to see modernist works at the Tretyakov Gallery, the Pushkin Museum, and elsewhere. The work of Monet and Matisse touched me deeply \u2014 Monet\u2019s Rouen Cathedrals and landscapes, and Matisse\u2019s Pink Studio and his Moroccan paintings communicated a sense of transcendental freedom to little me, and I kept coming back to look at them. I was also exposed to the artists of so-called Russian modernism, avant-garde, and symbolism. Perhaps this defined my path \u2014 I could never stop thinking about what I\u2019d seen, returning to the paintings again and again, researching whatever I could. These works \u2014 not just visual art, but literature, music, philosophy too \u2014 came out of a vast cultural milieu that offered so much toward developing a certain subjective flexibility, an exposure to different ways of seeing and constructing the world. That quality resonated with me deeply; in time it grew into an interest in philosophy, and into the study and practice of Buddhism.<\/p>\n But back then \u2014 in my mid-teens or so \u2014 I was lucky to work with a teacher, Yuri Makhnev, who belonged to a lineage going back to the Russian modernist Pavel Kuznetsov. He taught me academic drawing, and then how to use oil paint \u2014 to build a composition, render light and space, and find that post-impressionist vibrancy in colour: to love it, respect it, pay attention to it. Even earlier than that, before I could read, my parents had some art books at home, and the work of Max Ernst struck me so deeply that I can still recall those images vividly today.<\/p>\n So, I was touched by something. It always felt natural to try to express that \u201csomething\u201d through painting or graphic work. There was always a strong sense of a current passing through \u2014 that the concentration of drawing or painting opened me up as a conduit for it \u2014 and everything I saw, in museums, in books, in nature, and just around me, inspired me endlessly.<\/p>\n I remember starting to make linocuts, and suddenly seeing linocuts everywhere \u2014 in the shadows of leaves, in the contours of things around me. In a way, my work is about perceiving, about seeing things \u2014 and by working this way, I become more familiar with how we construct our ways of seeing, which is something I want to share through my work.<\/p>\n Josephine: What does a typical working day in the studio look like for you? Do you have any important routines or rituals?<\/strong><\/p>\n Cyrill: I spend a lot of time cleaning my space \u2014 it helps clear my mind so I can work with full immersion. I also like to spend time in my garden. Otherwise, since painting involves \u2014 at least in my case \u2014 a certain amount of production, it has its own natural cycles and seasons. I make or order a number of stretcher bars and stretch cotton canvas onto them, which can take a few days, and then I have something to work with for the next few months \u2014 both physical surfaces to paint on, and an imaginal space that grows out of the themes and subjects that have been on my mind, or things I want to try, like a specific material.<\/p>\n I think having this built-in limitation \u2014 a pre-defined scope of work, whether in volume or in time (for example, when I\u2019m travelling) \u2014 helps bind the creative process together. It also creates a sense of urgency: I have limited canvases, limited days, limited capacity and understanding, and I can only do so much. I relate to my practice as something closely linked to the biorhythms of my own body, but also to the seasons, the phases of the moon, and other events in the solar system. I keep this quite open \u2014 there\u2019s no fixed system for me; the I Ching or Kabbalah could apply just as well to navigate this kind of semantic space. The point is that it stays alive \u2014 it can grow like a garden if I tend to it \u2014 and that there\u2019s a right time for certain things.<\/p>\n Josephine: Which materials or tools could you not live without?<\/strong><\/p>\n Cyrill: Clean water and air? \u2014 I\u2019d wither away without the gifts of this planet. When I\u2019m painting, a good support matters; at the sizes I work with, I use unprimed cotton canvas. I like its natural off-white colour, and the way wet media spreads and bleeds through it. I like to make my own paint too, mixing pigment into a polyvinyl emulsion sold as primer for concrete surfaces. My work wouldn\u2019t be the same without pastels either \u2014 I use both dry and oil pastels. I sometimes try to avoid dry pastel, since it\u2019s fragile and messy, but nothing looks quite like it. A stapler and pliers, for stretching canvas. As for brushes, I admit I prefer cheap synthetic ones \u2014 I don\u2019t want to be precious about ruining an expensive tool while mixing rust powder into a concrete binder or applying bleach.<\/p>\n Josephine: Do you work from a reference? Tell us more about your process.<\/strong><\/p>\n Cyrill: Sometimes I work from reference. I\u2019ll sketch or take photos of things I see, usually outdoors, then interpret them through drawing, and later either project and trace those interpretations or work freehand \u2014 whatever feels appropriate. Sometimes I even use an image from the media. What I see can spark a composition or the start of a painting; other times the idea comes from exploring a material \u2014 cyanotype emulsion, for example, or a particular pigment, oxide pigments, different ferrous substances, dyes and DIY dyeing, or even just a certain colour or an idea about layering. In that sense, ideas for paintings most often come from working on them \u2014 in the process of making one piece, I\u2019ll get ideas for several more.<\/p>\n I also like to let a painting develop on its own, and I try to stay attentive and receptive while I work. I know I tend to overdo things, so I\u2019m conscious of giving space, of stopping myself or stepping back. I don\u2019t always succeed, but I think the goal is to be comfortable with a whole gradient of how defined things are \u2014 which mirrors perception itself, which has its own inconsistencies and its own rhythms. What interests me isn\u2019t just how things look, but how they appear and cease to exist \u2014 that quality perception has.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a certain limit past which our senses fail to capture something \u2014 it\u2019s too fast, too small, too subtle, too far outside the visible spectrum. Or it\u2019s like the edges of our field of vision, where things gradually disappear into a black space we\u2019re rarely conscious of. Every phenomenon within that space is, in its own way, also appearing and disappearing, always subject to change. It\u2019s the same pattern everywhere \u2014 I see it as an ocean of interfering waves, and I think painting is a wonderful medium for exploring it. In a way, almost all painting has a figurative quality \u2014 we\u2019re so quick to read figures into marks on a surface, which makes it endlessly rich and fertile. If I spend enough time even with a monochrome canvas, I\u2019ll see things come and go, both within me and on the canvas \u2014 so I try to stay alert to the exciting possibilities a painting can offer. Sometimes I get lucky, and just need to step back before the canvas gets overcrowded.<\/p>\n Josephine: Do you regularly draw or keep a sketchbook? If so, how does this inform your work?<\/strong><\/p>\n Cyrill: I keep a few sketchbooks in my studio. I like to draw to explore an idea, and sometimes I develop a piece of graphic work or translate it into another medium. I often draw from photos I\u2019ve taken \u2014 sometimes it\u2019s more like reportage drawing, or studies of spaces and objects that catch my interest. I like drawing in museums too, both art museums and natural history collections. My graphic work doesn\u2019t translate easily into painting, but I enjoy exploring how the two can come together \u2014 it\u2019s very rich territory. Sometimes I cut silhouettes out of paper, or even use a laser cutter to scale and cut out my drawings, so I can move them around the canvas freely before settling on a composition.<\/p>\n But what is very important for the piece are the materials, specific pigments I use and so on, and how they interact or look together. I do some colour and material test like that\u2014 mostly on loose paper and loose pieces of canvas\u2014 same I stretch on the frame<\/p>\n Josephine: Have you ever had a period of stagnation in creativity? If so, what helped you overcome it?<\/strong><\/p>\n Cyrill: Sometimes it\u2019s tied to personal circumstances. The best I can do is take care of myself \u2014 get plenty of sleep, exercise, stay hydrated, and work through it. My practice always comes back to me, or I keep coming back to it; it always feels resourceful and nourishing, and I never feel I need to rush myself. The sight of a certain hue, a plant, an animal, can be enough to inspire me and instill wonder \u2014 anything can be beautiful and strange and fantastic to look at. I try to make my practice as sustainable as possible, and think of it as a long-term, life-long project. Patience and perseverance can reveal wonderful things, and there\u2019s a devotional aspect to my practice too, which can pull me through hard times when that\u2019s where I happen to be. In the end, if someone\u2019s struggling, I think getting enough rest can go a long way toward the creativity flowing freely again.<\/p>\n Josephine: Are there any specific artists or mentors who have inspired you?<\/strong><\/p>\n Cyrill: Starting with mentors: Elly Strik and Femmy Otten. Among other contemporary artists, I find the work of Aemen Aededeen, Anna Bjerger, Winston Chmielinski, Henry Churchod, Andrew Cranston, Peter Doig, Semen Fa\u00eebisovich, Gommaar Gilliams, Doron Langberg, Adam Lee, John McAllister, Geoffroy Pithon, Tal R, Lou Ros, Dion Rosina, Maja Ruznic, Alexander Tovborg, and Salman Toor all so inspiring.<\/p>\n Josephine: What were you thinking about or exploring at the time you made Most Peculiar Circumstance<\/em>? What inspired it, and how did it come to be?<\/strong><\/p>\n Cyrill: I\u2019d just come back to The Hague from a trip, visiting friends in Lisbon and then Turkey, and I made a number of paintings after that. Most Peculiar Circumstance<\/em> is inspired by a botanical garden in Lisbon. My friendships there gave it context, as did the experience of encountering a new city as a stranger. Wandering into that botanical garden was wonderful \u2014 I was struck by all the thriving plant life and the play of light through the lush green. The choice of base hue came suddenly, midway through the process \u2014 a thin red glaze that bound all the colours together and made them buzz and vibrate visually. It also resonated with some visionary, energy-body experiences I\u2019d had maybe a year before.<\/p>\n To some extent I like to draw on experiences like these in my work, and then fictionalise them \u2014 I enjoy a kind of covert world-building and narrative-building. It doesn\u2019t have to be obvious, or even legible, but it informs the work, and I like to approach it speculatively; I think that helps me share what I find important and true. It\u2019s also fair to say I sometimes explore these experiences through the practice itself. In this case, it was an experience of the world as a gradient of different planes of reality, arranged in a kind of hierarchy. Walking down a street in Berlin, in winter, I could find myself sliding into a plane that felt located far below the ordinary one \u2014 things looked more or less the same, but everything was pierced by a soft red light, or wrapped in a red haze. There was a sense of great energy running through it, and perhaps a sense of fear too. It was invigorating.<\/p>\n In the painting, the red veil renders the scene dreamlike and generative, fertile ground for imagination \u2014 the rest of the process was a kind of dialogue with that quality. When I stay receptive, images come through, and I feel invited to define them, though I also want the work to keep some of that open, receptive quality itself \u2014 something undefined and true. Other themes at play here are rebirth and the spirit world. There\u2019s a figure that references the Sorcerer, the famous cave painting from Trois-Fr\u00e8res in France, often interpreted as a magician or shaman \u2014 so again there are ideas of manifesting will, skilful means, mastery, the shamanic journey, travelling between worlds or crossing the underworld stream, the flood of cyclic existence. I think art, from its beginnings, was never separate from humanity\u2019s impulse toward the divine, the mystical, the transcendent, the supernatural \u2014 that idea still holds for me, and it informs what I do. There\u2019s also the idea of a multiplicity of worlds and their permeability, a kind of vibrational matrix connecting them, and their recurrence \u2014 a rhythmic cyclicity, like tidal waves. And the idea of the world as made of light, as dreamlike, as a kind of magical illusion. Other references in the piece include a gel throwing-toy shaped like a tiger, which I\u2019d made a drawing of; a very old Mayan clay vessel shaped like a dog\u2019s head; and some pareidolic, ghostly imagery.<\/p>\n Josephine: What made you submit this piece to Jackson\u2019s Art Prize?<\/strong><\/p>\n Cyrill: I like this piece. In hindsight, transporting it was quite a challenge! Most of the paintings I make are this size, so I just chose one of my recent favourites \u2014 one that could stand on its own, and that felt representative of my practice as a whole.<\/p>\n Josephine: How did you arrive at the title Most Peculiar Circumstance<\/em>, and how do you usually go about titling your work?<\/strong><\/p>\n Cyrill: I\u2019m interested in poetry, especially very short forms. I\u2019m also interested in stories and worldbuilding, in speculation. I like turning a few words over in my mind, letting a phrase saturate it \u2014 it helps me make sense of my paintings, and gives my practice a deliberately fragmented narrative dimension, sometimes a sense that I\u2019m going somewhere with it. Some of these phrases end up as titles (occasionally I write them straight onto the canvas). They\u2019re snippets I hear, read, or come up with myself \u2014 things like \u201chaven\u2019t seen another person in months, but silence is replete with bliss, full of promise\u201d, \u201cthe crushing hell \u2014 celestial abodes\u201d, \u201cleft to themselves, vanish by themselves\u201d, \u201cespecially if you put your hand on the vibrating drum\u201d. There\u2019s a line from Jean Genet\u2019s The Thief\u2019s Journal that fascinates me \u2014 a book I admire and might still use for a painting \u2014 \u2018Merely to turn a doorknob requires a host of movements, each as brilliant as the facet of the jewel\u2019.<\/p>\n With Most Peculiar Circumstance<\/em>, though, nothing quite stuck. The title is really me admitting I can\u2019t fully grasp the work myself \u2014 I wanted to indicate that something had happened, something had occurred, most likely outside the frame, and that we see its effect in the painting. Maybe it\u2019s like an eclipse. Or maybe the opposite of an eclipse\u2014 or some kind of phasal shift.<\/p>\n Josephine: This piece is very large, which makes the viewer feel as if they are standing at the precipice of the landscape itself. What made you decide to work at this scale, and is this immersive experience intentional?<\/strong><\/p>\n Cyrill: I chose to work in this format many years ago \u2014 I wanted something as big as possible while still fitting through doors and staircases, and something I could move around single-handedly. I now have around 30 paintings this size. I like how this format relates, in scale, to the human body \u2014 for me it suggests an opening, a portal, and also, because of the proportions of the rectangle, the human figure.<\/p>\n Since my work is about perception, and embodiment is central to that, I like to think of the painting itself as a body, and also as an interface for exploring the body, perception, and awareness. I want to be generous with what I offer, and I want the work to affect and resonate with the viewer somatically \u2014 to make their own presence, the act of looking, and their own materiality feel more tangible, more grounded. My work is quite diverse technically; I like combining and exploring mediums, and surprising myself sometimes, so there\u2019s real variability in the materials I use and the ways I arrive at an image \u2014 sometimes very minimal, sometimes very imagistic, however it comes, I like to explore. In an exhibition context, the visual rhythm of a repeated format helps hold and bind together, coherently, all the different things and ideas that went into the individual works.<\/p>\n Josephine: Are there any new techniques or ideas you\u2019re excited to explore using the materials from your prize?<\/strong><\/p>\n Cyrill: There are some materials I can\u2019t normally afford \u2014 the best soft pastels, for instance. They\u2019re so beautiful, each one like a perfect little painting in itself. I also want to try working with airbrush ink \u2014 mostly as ink, but also with an actual airbrush and compressor. It\u2019s a completely different visual world from what I\u2019m used to, even though plenty of artists already use this tool. Because I grew up with a modernist sensibility, the airbrush touch looks very unusual to me, very strange \u2014 and I like that. I really love Sennelier oil pastels; I already use them, but I\u2019m excited to be able to apply them more generously. I\u2019m afraid I have some tough choices to make!<\/p>\n Josephine: How did it feel to move through the stages of the competition and win the Pastel Runner Up Award?<\/strong><\/p>\n Cyrill: A bit like winning the lottery? I\u2019m grateful and happy to have made it this far. With almost 17,000 entries, there are inevitably a lot of worthy artworks that just don\u2019t make it through \u2014 as an artist, I mostly end up in that pile, like everyone else I know. So I\u2019m thrilled to have this chance to show and share my work. I don\u2019t take the win too personally, for that reason, but I am genuinely delighted to receive it, and happy to take it as recognition for all the work and persistence behind it.<\/p>\n Josephine: What\u2019s coming up next for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n Cyrill: I\u2019m showing a cyanotype painting at Big Art Rotterdam 2026, September 11\u201313, at Codrico Factory. One step at a time! Then in October I\u2019m heading to Dalian, China, for a short course in Traditional Chinese Medicine.<\/p>\n Follow Cyrill on Instagram<\/a> Meet Angela Lizon, Winner of Jackson\u2019s Art Prize 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Jackson\u2019s Art Prize 2026 First Prize Winner Announced<\/a><\/p>\n How We Collaborate With Artists<\/a><\/p>\n Expert Advice on Making Your Way as an Artist<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Cyrill_Rafael_Vasilyev_Most_Peculiar_Circumstance-scaled.jpg\")
Oil pastel, soft pastel, pigment, aquatint on canvas, 220 x 120 cm | 86.6 x 47.2 in<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cyrill-rafael-2023-my-dear-teacher-copy.jpg\")
Cyrill Rafael Vasilyev
Mixed media (ink, pigment, pastel, spray paint) on canvas, 220 x 120 cm | 87 x 47 in<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cyrill-rafaelwip3.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cyrill-rafaelwip1.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cyrill-rafael-fields-of-air-7.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cyrill-rafaelwip2.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cyrill-rafael-fields-of-air-1.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cyrill-rafael-fields-of-air-5-1.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cyrill-rafael-studioview.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cyrill-rafael-2023-moth.jpg\")
Cyrill Rafael Vasilyev
Mixed media (ink, pigment, pastel) on canvas, 220 x 120 cm | 87 x 47 in<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cyrill-rafael-fields-of-air-4.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cyrill-rafael-fields-of-air-2.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Cyrill-Rafael-2023-afloat.jpg\")
Cyrill Rafael Vasilyev
Mixed media (ink, pigments, charcoal, pastels) on canvas, 220 x 120 cm | 87 x 47 in<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cyrill-rafael-fields-of-air-3.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cyrill-rafael-fields-of-air-6.jpg\")
Visit Cyrill\u2019s website<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/JAG_Banner_2026_NL_New-18.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFurther Reading<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/JAP_Blog_Footer_Asset_General_2026.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n