|
Nineteen-year old Anastasiya Shpagina’s look is inspired by the anime cartoons Japan is famed for, adopting the Japanese (almost) sounding name “Fukkacumi” for her alter-ego. Then there’s Olga Oleynik, 24, aka “Dominika”, who, like her predecessor Valeriya, presents a Barbie-like face to the world. Both have been pilloried in the press and online, but claim they are simply misunderstood. Both deny major surgical intervention (although Olga admits her buxom bust is the result of a boob job) and claim cosmetic “sleight-of-hand” is behind their unique looks. They claim the attention is unwanted, yet harness the power of social media to market themselves like accomplished salespeople. It’s a perplexing mix. Here, in their own words, they describe what motivates their radical personas. Brace yourselves – it makes for bizarre reading.
Tell us a little about yourselves, your backgrounds and what prompted you to create these characters?
Anastasiya: I finished school and went to a hairdressing course. After that I started working. Japanese anime cartoons are my inspiration; it’s just how I want to look. Many people think I spend my parents’ money for makeup, but that’s not true. Because I work, I buy everything myself. I don’t buy super expensive makeup either; I buy what I can afford.
Olga: I’m definitely a creative personality. I’ve always adored drawing and have been drawing since the fifth grade, even going to art school. This, however, is my hobby, and my inspiration is never-ending. I have always felt “different” and I never wanted to be like anyone else, I remember going through many image incarnations. At school, I heard a lot about the way I looked, but I didn’t really care what others thought of me, I just wanted to project my inner state to the outer world and that’s how I came up with my image.
Describe your image – on what is it based?
Anastasiya: The image I have now was always in my head, and as I adore watching anime cartoons this became my inspiration and ideal of appearance. I like the big eyes and long hair… I liked the idea of making that image a reality. I wanted to live in a fairytale and at the same time bring that fairytale to the real world.
Olga: I feel like an alien being, moreover I know that it’s true. My spiritual motherland is the Pleiades constellation and I remember being there in previous lives. It’s all thanks to these memories, meditation, travels through the astral plain, and dreams of other worlds and dimensions. This is what inspires me and I project it all to my reality. I’m an aesthete and an idealist, I aspire towards perfection and that has always been a part of me. This is the basis for my image.
Clearly your appearances are achieved with cosmetics, but have you had any surgical assistance?
 Anastasiya: I haven’t had any plastic surgery, and I doubt that someone will agree to perform surgery on a 19-year-old, besides I don’t have the money to pay for it. It is all just sleight-of-hand and secrets of makeup. I started playing with makeup when I was five, taking my mum’s cosmetics. She wasn’t that happy about it, so she bought me some to play with. I learned a lot myself – if I see an image in a magazine for example, I do a sketch right away and then try to create it on myself.
Olga: My look is the result of all-round work on myself; my inner development as well as external expression. It’s the result of inner transformations, the expression of love and harmony as well as a healthy way of life. I don’t drink alcohol, don’t smoke, I’m vegetarian and have achieved a higher state of vegetarianism, by eating only raw food. I go to the gym to keep myself in good shape and project the way I see beauty with the help of art. I had just one surgery, on my breasts, to balance my hips, which I decided to do it for aesthetic reasons.
How have your family, friends and the wider public reacted to your appearances?
Anastasiya: My mother has always been supportive of me. I don’t have friends. Society in general doesn’t understand me. I hear criticism all the time from people who simply don’t understand me – I scare them which provokes them to be aggressive.
Olga: My family is well used to me experimenting with how I look and it is something I have been doing since school. However, wider society reacts explosively, in ways both positive as well as negative, but I’ve never really cared as I’m focused on finding inner harmony.
Of course, I also seek support from others. There are people who share my views, like my soulmate Amatue – Valeria Lukyanova, we are best friends and I’m thankful for our friendship. I love her! We hear a lot of criticism every day, mostly on the Internet, people have even created a couple of websites to discuss Amatue and I in negative terms.
I also receive many negative comments and messages among the various social networks. But I don’t really care. I think the reason for it is social programming – people don’t understand anything that differs from the norm. I think people fear being judged and that’s why they are afraid to be different. I like the feeling of freedom; I reject confinements and restrictions. You could say I’m antisocial and that provokes mixed feelings.
You both are attracting worldwide attention due to your looks; you crave this attention, don’t you?
Anastasiya: It was never my goal to become popular; I have always just been makiing myself up because I like it. The fact that people know about me is pleasant, of course, and I’m happy that more and more people share my views. I want people to understand that they should always be themselves, and they shouldn’t be afraid of what someone might think of them. You should live your life and be happy every day.
Olga: I can honestly say that I never wanted this attention or popularity. I was just doing what I like doing and sharing it on the Internet and this is what attracted people.
OK, so wanted or not, a certain degree of fame has come your way, how do you plan to use it?
Anastasiya: I’m still in search of myself and want to try various professions including becoming a makeup artist, actress, florist, puppeteer and singer. I want to add a touch of magic to my life.
Olga: I plan to use my popularity to promote compassion, love, harmony and a healthy way of life such as vegetarianism – I think killing animals for food is violent and I see no sense in it. Ideally, I want to open my own shop and website selling clothes for what I call “people of a new era”, like-minded people who want to project their inner world and not just correspond to society’s expectations and “fashion”.
Jared Morgan
| 
.jpg)
Acelebrity using their status and intelligence to influence public views and opinion is rarely seen in modern society, even less so in Ukraine. Here, the majority of celebs use their time, effort, and money to enhance or further their career rather than put their name to something that can do good for others. However, as EuroMaidan intensifies, some are making themselves heard – and they fall either side of the EuroMaidan divide.
There’s something in the water in the southern city of Odesa, and it’s multiplying. Dubbed the “human Barbie” Valeriya Lukianov, who calls herself “Amatue”, has become a viral Internet sensation due to doll-like proportions that make her resemble Mattel’s most famous plaything. Not to be outdone, two more girls have stepped out of her shadow. What’s behind the phenomenon? What’s On goes to Anastasiya Shpagina and Olga Oleynik for some answers...or at least attempts to.
Located on Hrushevskoho Street – the epicentre of EuroMaidan violence, home to battles, blazes and barricades – children’s favourite the Academic Puppet Theatre had to shut down in February. Nevertheless, it is getting ready to reopen this March with a renewed repertoire to bring some laughter back to a scene of tragedy. Operating (not manipulating) puppets is a subtle art that can make kids laugh and adults cry. What’s On meets Mykola Petrenko, art director of the Theatre, to learn more about those who pull the strings behind the show.