The Feldman sisters are twins Michelle and Nicole. They were born in 1996 in Dnipro, where they lived for 18 years and instead of going to school, they were engaged in creativity from childhood. Their parents sent them to study only from the 6th to the 9th grade, after which they continued their home education: they were engaged in drawing, music and dancing.
"The parents didn't like the school themselves, so they told us if we didn't want to go there, we wouldn't go. But everything was great, because there was always company at home: brothers, sisters," says Nicole.
There are six children in the family, the girls were always together with their older and younger brothers. The older sister is engaged in cargo ships, the brother in acting, the younger in tattooing and fashion design, and the youngest sister, who is 17, is still looking for herself. Mom has been fond of mountaineering, journalism and painting all her life. They met their father only when they were 8 years old, because he was a political prisoner under Kuchma. He was imprisoned for 11 years, but released after 4. The family always supported creative endeavors:
"Mom told us that dad was on a business trip, and we could write him a letter or deliver something. We drew him a portrait, and he replied with a letter, I don't remember exactly, but he said that it was a masterpiece. But we didn't see it then, it was such a mystery - if dad said it was a masterpiece, then you have to paint all your life. That this is some kind of sign," recalls Michel.
In Dnipro, they received an order for the painting of a rehabilitation center for teenagers and illustrations for a book on the English language, after which they dared to live independently. In 2014, they moved to Kyiv, where they first lived in a hostel for several months. There were always foreigners, communication, interesting people, and from there street art and orders began: whether it was for the cover of a music release, or an illustration for a book.
They started doing street art a month after moving, after watching the film "Home" directed by Jan Arthus-Bertan, which raises environmental and social problems of the world, in which man is involved: deforestation, slave labor and global warming. The first attempt to convey the problem through images was a series of murals in the subway on the European Square.
The motivation was the conviction from the film: "We then decided that veganism is the only thing and we have to convey it to people. Hence the graffiti of the Earth on the pan. It's like in childhood - sincere anger, but then it passed, because you understand that you are also in this system..." - noted Feldman.
Among the series of works are "Dreams", "Theories of the Apocalypse" and "Theories of World Creation". During the full-scale invasion, amulets appeared on the streets of Lviv, Dnipro, Kyiv and Odesa - talismans (both painted and partially sculpted, as they are made of mounting foam) and two decks of tarot cards with images of Ukrainian cities. A series of cards for fortune-telling participated in the collective exhibitions of Ukrainian artists Smereka in Paris, War Reports in Prague, WithDraw the War in Tel Aviv, and Rejection of the Alarm in Kyiv in the space of Avangarden. Going to the city is added to the list of exhibitions - a personal exhibition of works from various materials created this year: from acrylic paintings to objects made of mounting foam. Another series of 2022-2023 is modernized Cossacks, painted on the streets of large cities of Ukraine, and Nicole and Michel are working on a continuation of it in Zaporizhzhia.
In addition to street art and exhibitions, the Feldman sisters are engaged in animation. In February 2022, the 5-episode cartoon Yoyo was released, which was originally conceived as a yoga video for children, but turned out to be a utopian (or not) plot about artificial intelligence, the problem of chipping and the life of the character Yoyo in a world of square emotionless humanity. The cartoon was in the process of creation since 2020, and the main character was made into a recognizable silhouette several years ago under the influence of The Simpsons. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the artists made a political animation about the war in Ukraine, and were also invited to create a mural in Brussels together with European artists as a sign of friendship between Ukraine and Belgium.
Without entering the university, the artists continued their self-development through films, Robert Sapolsky's lectures, and separately note the influence of the TV series "Breaking Bad" on Nicole and the book "The Problem of Three Bodies" on Michelle.
From music, techno is most often listened to, but at the same time, openness to new genres remains. In their free time, they sing and meet with their brothers who also moved to Kyiv.
Most often, Michel and Nicole use acrylic paint in their works, both paintings and graffiti. Their mother introduced them to this material in their childhood. The use of mounting foam was determined by the curfew in order to quickly stick street art, and the idea came from a friend of the artists, who made a DJ table and ceiling from this material in his establishment.
Artists continue to experiment with forms and subjects at exhibitions and on the streets
