Nina Zayets, a participant in the “Voice of the Forest” project’s art residency, organized by AO Pădurea Noastră with the support of the Goethe-Institut, talks about how nature, creativity, and life away from the city helped her connect more deeply with herself; her search for meaning through art and co-creation; her interactions with other participants; working with clay, painting, music, and ceramics; as well as the unexpected discoveries and challenges she experienced during the residency.
Nina talks about the main result of this experience — the desire to doubt herself less, to take action more, and to bring more vitality, creativity, and authentic connection with nature into everyday life.
“When I live in the city, there are so many emotions and so much chaos. Here, I had contact with real, tangible reality. For me, this was extremely valuable because it helped me reconnect with the earth and feel grounded.”
1. Hello!
My name is Nina Zayets.
I am from Ukraine.
I am a creative person, and I am interested in everything connected with Creativity, Nature, and everything that is Alive and Authentic.
I practice art therapy, family constellations, and psychotherapy, and I really love singing, photography, ceramics, dancing, and painting.
When I found out about this Event, I was deeply moved. I felt an inner response and heard this phrase: “You are going to have a SPECIAL AUGUST.”
I literally got goosebumps all over my body when I heard these words. And I can confirm: AUGUST really was SPECIAL!
2. I would like to talk about the Meaning that I found for myself during this Art Residency, about my expectations, and about why I came here in the first place.
It is important for me to find Meaning everywhere, to find myself in all the processes that happen to me, and to explore myself.
And during this Art Residency, I realized that I also came here to get to know myself better and to see WHAT emerges from me — in the form of Creativity, co-creation, collaboration with the other participants of the Art Residency, with the organizers, and simply in the way I express myself.
I also really wanted to spend some time in Nature, in the forest, far away from the city, in silence. This is also very valuable for my physical and mental health.
Because Nature, physical work, and creativity have given me so much. When I live in the city, it can be quite difficult for me — there are so many emotions and so much chaos, and I spend a lot of time on my phone, in a “virtual reality.”
Here, I had contact with REAL, MATERIAL REALITY. For me, this was incredibly valuable because it really GROUNDED me.
I was interested in observing WHAT was emerging from me here, what was being “produced” from me, WHAT was happening in the drawings I created in this Space.
And at the beginning of the Art Residency, it was a little difficult. Everyone was adapting, and it was difficult to open up. I noticed that I was going more and more into my drawings and interacting less with others.
And the drawings turned out as if I was hiding a little — behind “leaves,” “feathers.” But I was incredibly interested in drawing these “details” and going deeper into them.
And the further we went, the more I felt that I really enjoyed interacting with other people.
It was interesting to create this Installation. There were many different and interesting experiences connected with it.
And actually, the Meaning of our Installation came to me right at the very end, when I could already feel that the Process was coming to an end, that the Art Residency was coming to an end. There were many hints and signs coming from all directions that our Process was approaching its completion.
And I wanted to sit by the fire, to sit near our Installation. I sat down on the adobe bench that we had made together with Dasha and the others.
And I felt that she had made it in exactly the right way, with exactly the right shape, in exactly the right place.
And when I sat there, I felt — what is this Installation actually about? Some deeper Meaning for me seemed to “download” and reach me at that very moment.
Maybe this is only my personal Meaning, but I had a very strong response to it.
I felt that this bench, because it is made of adobe, is a continuation of Nature. And that is exactly what we wanted in the VOICE OF THE FOREST project — for everything not to feel artificial.
I felt that this bench fit into that place SO beautifully. It was so COZY. The lines of its shape were very smooth and soft.
It felt very feminine, caring.
When I sat down on it, I felt as if I were being hugged. And there were smooth raised edges on the sides that seemed to protect me.
I was wearing a headlamp. I looked straight ahead, and the light was shining directly onto the Tree in the center of the Installation.
And at that moment, I had a very powerful insight:
This Center, this Tree in the Center of the Circle, and me sitting on this bench — it was as if I were the OBSERVER, while this Tree was my ESSENCE, my Life, my “I AM,” my Core, my Center — the state of being in the present moment, when I am PRESENT.
And for me, this was SO symbolic. This Tree — I felt something very good and very deep through it.
And this Meaning is very precious to me.
And this whole atmosphere — the starry sky, the forest — all of it created the conditions for me to feel and experience this Meaning.
3. For me, it was unusual and very valuable to interact as part of this newly formed team of Art Residency participants, with people I had never known before,
but with whom a wonderful, pleasant, and safe Connection developed.
And again, this is very valuable for me because through these people and my interaction with them, I am still exploring myself. Inside, I am kind of “calibrating” myself — observing how this process happens for another person and how it happens for me.
And it was incredibly valuable for me to communicate with these people.
For example, Dasha was like a little MOTOR, an Energizer for me — a very life-affirming, expansive person who loves everything and interacts with everything, with all living Nature. Everything interests her.
Everything is “within her power.” She has no resistance or doubts that something might not work out — and this INSPIRED me SO MUCH.
I learned this from her, and I definitely took something from her with me.
I was REALLY impressed and touched by the fact that there is nothing “foreign” to her. Everything is familiar, beloved to her. It is as if she simply RADIATES and gives LOVE as a whole.
I also felt Dasha’s GENEROSITY.
At first, I was closed off, as if it was difficult for me to integrate into the “group.” But then, on the contrary, it became wonderful, and I wanted to share, to give, to offer treats — and this created a pleasant sense of expansion inside me.
I also definitely want to talk about my interaction with Vladimir, Dasha’s younger son.
It was super cool to observe how, as soon as I opened up to him and reached out to him, he also opened up.
It was an incredibly valuable experience of ACCEPTING a person with all their unique characteristics — and it even developed into something more, into a kind of warm feeling towards him as a child.
4. But probably my strongest impressions came from a participant named Svetoiar.
Because this person is, essentially, the opposite of me.
I was deeply impressed by his ease and by the way he approaches life, creativity, and interaction with people — it is radically different from my way.
And I wanted to take something from this as well and add it to my own “arsenal” of useful things:
the ability not to bend myself, not to give in to pressure, not to allow myself to be “bent” or forced to do something I don’t like;
to feel what interests me and, on the contrary, what brings me EASE;
to catch MY OWN WAVE and not let myself be drawn into “other people’s stories” that do not interest me and that create a feeling of heaviness inside me.
Because when you follow “YOUR OWN PATH,” you feel satisfaction and a wave of energy.
But when you go “in the wrong direction,” you feel heaviness and a loss of energy.
And one more thing!
Svetoiar let me play his musical instrument — the flute — and it is SO wonderful when you manage to do something, even just a little, but you succeed on your very FIRST TRY!
It inspires you so much and gives you confidence in yourself.
I realized that the most powerful experience I had here was when I rehearsed the song together with Dima, Svetoiar, and Dasha — the song in which I sing.
And I REALLY LOVED this safe space that we created together with people who do not criticize, but support.
Especially Svetoiar, who calmly gives very good constructive feedback, leads the entire musical process with great skill and talent, hears all the mistakes, and knows how to correct them in a very appropriate way.
For me, this is an invaluable experience — when people notice what I do well and gently correct my mistakes.
Under such conditions, everything becomes much easier.
I really enjoyed our interaction, and I saw the result.
I gained an experience that showed me that if you keep practicing, things work out — and each time, they get better and better.
I also want to say something about the participant Dmitry.
When he left, I felt the difference.
Dmitry is a great guy — hardworking, very talented, and reliable. He brought his own value to every process, supporting them both through his direct help and through his work.
Even though Dmitry is a musician, here he also helped us cut branches, knead clay, and carry stones.
It was good and comfortable to have him around.
And Dmitry really impressed me with his talent for composing music and with his creation about Stephen the Great.
I drew here directly in Nature,
in the forest or on the hill, with a view of the forest — and this was a special pleasure.
It was very interesting for me to draw the participants and to draw them intuitively: to see and feel their image and then convey it approximately, so that the drawing would not necessarily look like the person, but would rather express a feeling, a character, a suggestion.
It was fascinating to observe how each participant would emerge in the drawings.
Another very valuable and powerful experience for me here was working with my hands, making things manually.
And I am grateful to Dasha for her ideas and support.
Dasha helped me come up with the idea and make frames for the drawings from branches and string.
I cut branches for the frames,
and I LOVED cutting them!
I had never done it before!
And I had no idea that it could be such a pleasant and engaging process!
I really enjoyed weaving the frames from string and branches.
At first, I wasn’t very good at it.
But Dasha, who is a true craftswoman, showed me and taught me,
and then it started turning into REAL BEAUTY!
I really enjoyed choosing the place for my Exhibition and hanging it in the trees.
When Dasha and I chose the location together, I saw a clearing that had become overgrown with vegetation.
And I felt something! There was something there!
It was a special clearing where trees had been planted in honor of people who were special to the owner of the estate.
Immediately, inspiration, energy, and strength appeared —
and we quickly cleared the clearing of the unnecessary bushes and brambles.
I would like to add that, in order to truly get to know people and interact beautifully with them,
you need to live together with them, in the same place, for a longer period of time and, most importantly,
to do something together. Probably, this is the most interesting and, at the same time, the most difficult thing.
It was wonderful when this “RESONANCE” was created between us, this feeling of being “IN UNISON” — and these are such pleasant and THE MOST POWERFUL moments.
Right now, I actually feel like crying — it is something very powerful when this “unison” appears,
a certain mutual attunement, a shared wave.
And with Dasha, I remember this feeling very clearly — when we went into the forest, made things together from clay near the spring, talked from the heart,
shared memories, and swam in the forest lake.
And it is a completely different feeling when we are on the estate grounds and when we go out into the wild forest.
In the forest, you can hear yourself better.
I felt how the forest interacts with me.
And one day, Dasha and I were sitting by a spring in the forest, talking quietly and working with clay,
and two deer came to drink — an adult one and a younger one.
That moment was SO BEAUTIFUL…
I felt that we had merged with Nature, with the forest, that we had merged with its silence and rediscovered our own inner silence,
and the deer did not sense any danger from us.
And, as it seems to me, when we worked with clay in the forest, the pieces we created turned out to be more interesting.
8. I also really enjoyed leading the pottery wheel workshop. I had missed it so much.
It was a long-awaited reunion! It was pure HAPPINESS!
I was glowing with joy!
Working at the pottery wheel centers you and brings you back to yourself.
At the workshop, I wanted people to experience this feeling.
When you feel centered within yourself, it becomes easier to center the clay on the wheel, and the piece turns out well.
And when I helped Dasha make pieces on the wheel, that was also a form of co-creation.
I really loved the way Dasha worked. She did everything slowly and calmly.
We enriched each other so much, we “pollinated” each other,
we learned something from one another,
and we noticed a few little “life hacks” in each other’s way of working.
And that was simply SO COOL!
I would like to add a few more things about the “adventures” and intense experiences I had here.
First of all — as I mentioned before — this was the first time I ever cut wood with a saw!
It was also the first time I heated the wood-fired sauna all by myself!
It was such a great experience when the organizers, Vlad and Sveta, left for a little while — and I immediately felt that “difficulties and exciting adventures” were about to begin :))
We had some interruptions in the water supply, and we managed to cope with them.
Then there was a very strong wind and a torrential downpour, with the wind blowing sideways. Dasha and I tried to save the tent. We had to take it down in the middle of the very strong wind, and the tent absolutely refused to cooperate.
At one point, we almost gave up, but in the end, we managed to do it.
The torrential rain also flooded the second floor through an open window.
All these events really “activated” me.
Because we had to solve the problem right there and then, I felt my Adult Nina coming forward — the part of me that, when necessary, simply gets up and does what needs to be done, without unnecessary emotions and without overthinking or doubting.
It felt good and gave me more confidence in myself.
I also want to say something about ceramics!
This process fascinates me!
HOW is it possible that just a short while before, it was almost nothing but earth,
simply clay taken from the ground,
and then, through some kind of magic,
with the help of our hands and whatever manifests through us,
it transforms into BEAUTY!???? 😍
My pieces developed a certain style, while Dasha’s were completely different!
From exactly the same clay!
And it is so amazing that Vlad and Sveta have a kiln for firing ceramics, and that we were able to fire our pieces and SEE
how, from this soft, dark-gray mass,
after firing, such wonderful objects appear, with such a beautiful terracotta color, so resonant and alive —
TRUE WORKS OF ART!
It is simply AMAZING!!!
10. I also want to say that all these people who were here — the Art Residency participants and the organizers — inspired me by helping me realize that you simply have to TAKE ACTION AND DO IT, no matter what, to keep moving forward through fear, doubts, and uncertainty — just KEEP GOING,
just TAKE ACTION AND DO IT.
My interactions with the Art Residency participants inspired me to get involved in music, singing, working with clay, drawing, and dancing — and I want to give these processes more attention in my life,
because they give me so much Energy and Inspiration,
they give me that something that makes me feel alive.
You can live like a “robot,” but you can also live and be ALIVE.
And my intention now is to bring all this Vitality, this Life that was activated here, into my everyday life.
I really want to live in the countryside. I have felt this for a long time — I want to live in a House, I want to plant things, grow things,
to shape things from clay, to LOVE everything I do and to do everything I love.
This makes me feel so alive, and that is when the real Nina awakens inside me — Alive Nina, who expresses herself, much more interesting than “robot” Nina :)))
The one who does the same things, thinks the same thoughts, believes in the same narrow ideas, and goes around in circles.
And the most important thing I want is TO TAKE ACTION.
If you do something, then IT GETS DONE! And there is a result!
