Elvira Shakirova states that she has been interested in drawing since the moment she remembers herself. Her approach is very interesting. Some of the artist's graphic works adopt the aesthetics of the VKhUTEMAS school of book illustration. But what is really fascinating is how she combines it with the Surrealistic approach. Her Dreamland Portrait is a perfect example to demonstrate it. The figurative image is hidden under a scratching technique which refers to the reality of dreams.

Portrait artist Elena Evseenko creates unique images that uncover the inner world of her models. Her heroes are not celebrities, they are ordinary people, each of which has a story to tell. It is very important to stress the fact that Evseenko's method is not focused only on showing the faces of her models. Sometimes she prefers to depict an anonymous figure. This way the artist demonstrates a Deleuzian concept of a simulacrum – the model has no history or anything else, we as spectators need to fill this body with no rogans. Using catchy elements like red color fragments in a black and white picture as a punctum, tells us that Evseenko is quite familiar with Roland Barthe's research in the field.

Iuliia prefers photography as a self-expression method. Her images often contain a sfumato effect that leaves the viewers with a feeling of mystery. The way how the artist playfully uses shades, makes her models look as if they were sculpted. By that, she refers to the Renaissance artists, whom she enjoys so much. Cheburkova loves to "plant" her models into the darkness, so their figures would look lit up as if there was no special lighting set up. This effect was created by Michelangelo Caravaggio in the 16^th century and adopted by contemporary photographers later.

Marina Melnik is a true master of portraits. The models she works with seem to look alike, so we can refer to Cindy Sherman's practice. But what is really interesting is how she presents her works: all these portraits have collage elements in them. Melnik combines digital and real-life aesthetics in her pieces. Some of them refer to the vanishing of the human body in contemporary art. By applying different filters, the artist states that the bodily category still remains an important element in some artists' oeuvres.

Experimental photographer Julia Shapovalova literally loves to work with the mysterious atmosphere in her practice. Her images are filled with tenderness and love for her occupation: "I love to create" is the main catchphrase in her artist's statement. And it is really so. When we look at the photographs Shapovalova produced, we see an educated arts person, who knows how to rephrase the achievements of the past and combine them with the timely tendencies in contemporary photography.

Olga Regina is an experimental photographer who finds inspiration on her journeys around the world. Images she creates contain not only digital but also physical world elements. She adds painted details into her printed images. By that Regina does what lots of contemporary artists tend to manage – a mix different creative practices. This method demonstrates that there are no borders in true art. At the beginning of the 20^th century, we faced a number of multidisciplinary movements which demonstrated that art speaks many languages. Today's artists like Regina show us that these languages bond into one universal form of speech that is able to unite all practices.

Figurative imagery and depiction of a human's body can not only be demonstrated in photography and painting. Digital artist Kseniia Batyshkina often tends to include people in her collages. The human category in her art is not a specific character, they are elements that support the artist's visual strategy: transferring the collage language of Dada and Surrealists into the world of the new media. In her works, she prefers to use bright cool coloring with injections of active orange or red fragments. Unlike Batyshkina's heroes from the early 20^th century, the artist prefers to create positively charged pieces.

Cold atmosphere of luxury with some glimpses of Hanna Hoch's collage style can mean only one thing – we are looking at a piece by Katya Letuchaya. The artist's work contains a lot of imagery from our time, by which she creates her own "currency", as philosopher Boris Groys would have named it. This currency helps Letuchaya to get involved with all possible audiences because each viewer can find something interesting for him/herself in these works. What is really peculiar is that, while observing the artist's collages, we also find references to Pop-Art, by this Letuchaya produces deep multilayer works that may touch many of us.