I used to say – my passion is fashion…
Novadays I say – my passion is painting.
I have a degree in fashion design and I worked in my own design studio for 15 years. After the Chinese invasion of the fashion industry started about 20 years ago, I decided to close my business because I couldn’t compete with their low prices anymore. I wasn’t alone in this situation.
It’s normal nowadays that enthusiastic young people start their own business, but after 5 years they have to close it down, because it isn’t possible to get enough clients for the same reason I mentioned – people are buying cheap chinese’s clothes from the internet.
My other job as a Helsinki guide has gone down the drain too, now because of the coronavirus. No more tourists out there…
Anyway, I have started a new page in my life. I am happy about it, because I am free not to do things I do not want to do. I am free to do whatever I want. This is real happiness, in my opinion.
I believe in fate and I think it was her sign, the aforementioned things.
I am interested in philosophy, history, human experiences such as depression, loneliness, bipolarity, relationships between people and other types of human emotions. There is a hint of such things in my paintings or drawings.
I was born in a small village in Belarus. For the last 30 years I have been living and working in Finland, in Helsinki.
With best wishes
Sveta Raj
Sketches, drawings, paintings and photography. 