Kseniya Simonova facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kseniya Simonova
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| Ксенія Симонова | |
Kseniya Simonova in 2010
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| Born |
Kseniya Oleksandrivna Simonova
22 April 1985 Yevpatoria, Crimea, Ukrainian SSR, USSR
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| Education | Tavrida National V.I. Vernadsky University (2007) (2008) |
| Known for |
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| Spouse(s) |
Igor Paskar
(m. 2007) |
| Awards | Winner of Ukraine's Got Talent |
Kseniya Oleksandrivna Paskar (born April 22, 1985), also known by her maiden name Simonova, is a talented artist from Ukraine. She is famous for her amazing sand animation performances. She also works in graphic design, illustration, and film. Kseniya became well-known in 2009 after winning Ukraine's Got Talent. She is a special artist who has received two "Golden Buzzers" on the Got Talent TV shows: America's Got Talent: The Champions and Britain's Got Talent: The Champions, both in 2019.
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Early Life and Family
Kseniya Simonova was born in 1985 in Yevpatoria, a city in Crimea. At that time, Crimea was part of the Soviet Union. Her mother, Irina Simonova, is an artist and a teacher. Her father, Alexander Simonov, used to be a military officer and now owns a furniture design company. Kseniya loved to paint and draw with her mother from a young age.
Even though Kseniya loved art, her parents thought it would be a difficult career. Kseniya knew it would be a challenge. She said that artists are always looking for something more than just everyday comfort. She was never interested in a simple, comfortable life.
In 2007, Kseniya married Igor Paskar. He is a theater director, journalist, and magazine editor. They have two sons.
Education and First Jobs
Kseniya went to the Artistic School of Yevpatoria. She also studied at the School of Fine Arts. There, she researched old English poems and songs. She even translated works by famous writers like William Shakespeare and Robert Burns.
In 2002, she started studying psychology at the Tavrida National V.I. Vernadsky University. She graduated with honors in 2007. While studying science, Kseniya also went to the Ukrainian Academy of Printing in 2003. She studied graphic design there and finished in 2008.
From 2006, Kseniya worked as an artist for a magazine called Crimean Riviera. In 2007, Kseniya and her husband, Igor, started their own magazine called Chocolate. It was in both English and Russian. However, they had to stop printing it a year later because of money problems.
Sand Stories: A New Art Form
Kseniya's husband, Igor, suggested she try sand performance. Kseniya wasn't sure at first. But they needed to find a way to earn more money. They tried different types of sand, but they didn't work well. Igor then found special volcanic sand online. He sold his printing equipment to buy three kilograms of this expensive sand.
Winning Ukraine's Got Talent
Igor encouraged Kseniya to enter Ukraine's Got Talent. The prize was a lot of money, about US$110,000. Kseniya decided to join the competition.
She performed a two-minute sand story and became a semi-finalist. Kseniya wanted to tell a story about World War II using sand. The show's producers wanted her to choose a more popular topic. But Kseniya refused. She said she wanted to bring a deep and meaningful message to the show. She wanted to create something that would touch everyone's hearts.
Kseniya performed an eight-minute sand story about a young couple separated by war. She said it was very emotional and hard to create. Her hands felt like they were "dying and reviving" as she made the images. She moved on to the finals. In the final round, she performed another sand story called Don't be too late!.
Kseniya was announced as the winner of the competition. She won 100,000 euros. Her performance video became very popular online, with over 2 million views on YouTube. After winning, Kseniya became an international artist. She performed her sand art in many countries. With the prize money, Kseniya and Igor bought a house in Yevpatoria.
Performing Around the World
Since 2009, Kseniya has performed her sand animation stories in many places. These include countries in Europe, China, India, Australia, and Thailand. She showed her art at big events like the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011. She also performed at the Champion League Final Gala in Milan in 2016.
Kseniya has performed for important people, including presidents and royalty. She has performed for the President of Malta, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, and members of the British Royal Family.
More Got Talent Shows
In 2019, Kseniya tried out for America's Got Talent: The Champions. The host, Terry Crews, gave her a "Golden Buzzer." This meant she went straight to the finals. Her final performance, called Love Always Wins, was highly praised by the judges. Simon Cowell said it was "one of the most beautiful acts in the history of Got Talent." Kseniya finished in third place on the show.
In August 2019, Kseniya was also part of Britain's Got Talent: The Champions. She appeared in the first episode and performed a sand story called "Never Give Up." One of the judges, Amanda Holden, gave her another Golden Buzzer. This made Kseniya the first artist to receive two Golden Buzzers on the "The Champions" series of the Got Talent shows. In the final, she performed a sand and snow story about Princess Diana. She came in third place in the Grand Finale.
World-Famous Sand Stories
Live Performances
Since 2009, Kseniya has been invited to perform at special events worldwide. In 2009, she performed her sand story "Planet of Childhood" in Valletta, Malta. This was for a charity event at the invitation of the President of Malta.
In 2010, Kseniya performed at the Victory Day Gala in London. She showed her sand stories You Are Always Nearby and I Remember. In 2011, her sand story Chess opened a chess tournament in Monte Carlo. Albert II, Prince of Monaco enjoyed her performance.
In April 2011, Kseniya created a sand story for Christian Dior called Lady Dior Moscow. She performed it for a Dior exhibition in Moscow. Fashion experts and Russian model Natalia Vodianova liked it a lot. In 2013, a film of this performance was named one of the 15 best fashion short films.
Kseniya also performed with symphony orchestras. She created "The Four Seasons" in sand in Florence in 2011. She was also a special guest at the Special Olympic Games' closing ceremony in Athens. There, she told the history of Greece using sand.
In July 2011, Natalia Vodianova invited Kseniya to perform at a charity event in Paris. Kseniya created a special sand story about Vodianova's life and charity work. In January 2012, Kseniya was a guest at Thailand's anniversary ceremonies in Bangkok. She performed Long Live the King! for the king of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej. The princess gave her gifts, and Kseniya gave the princess discs of her performance. The film "Long Live the King!" was watched 1.5 million times on YouTube.
Kseniya performed in Tokyo with Life Always Wins, a story about the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. During UEFA Euro 2012 in Ukraine, she performed a sand art concert in Kyiv. The money raised helped the Ukraine national football team. She also performed in Denmark for the Wadden Sea cultural festival. The Danish government organized concerts for her, and Princess Marie of Denmark praised her work. In 2014, Kseniya performed her sand stories with a symphony orchestra in Aalborg, with Margrethe II of Denmark in the audience.
Since 2013, Kseniya has made sand animation stories for Morocco's Royal projects. These projects focus on protecting the environment. One film, "Beautiful Morocco," about the kingdom's history and environment, was viewed over 2 million times on YouTube. In 2016, she was a special guest at the Morocco Awards gala.
In November 2015, Kseniya was a guest at ceremonies in Thimphu, Bhutan. These events celebrated the 60th birthday of Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the father of the current king. Kseniya created a sand story called Gorgeous Bhutan. Both kings loved her artwork. The royal couple, Jigme Khesar and Jetsun Pema, welcomed her to their palace. The king even called Kseniya his friend.
In 2016, Kseniya presented a film called "Astana, my love." It was about the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, and the Kazakh people. It was viewed over 30,000 times in just a few days on YouTube. She also performed a sand animation about football in Milan for the UEFA Champions League Cup presentation. She created a sand animation video, Live, Serbia, which became very popular in Serbia.
In 2017, she performed in the Belgrade National Theatre with a show about Serbia. Her art exhibition, Progress, traveled to five major cities in Serbia. The minister of culture of Serbia, Vladan Vukosavljević, welcomed her warmly. In 2018, she performed in Greece's biggest concert hall with sand stories about Greece. Later that year, she performed six shows in Hong Kong for over 30,000 people.
Sand Stories and Music
With Symphony Orchestras
Kseniya has performed her sand stories with many symphony orchestras. These include the YouTube Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Aalborg. Her performance in Sydney with the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, called Ascending Bird, was viewed online 33 million times.
In 2017, Kseniya performed with the Belgium National Orchestra. They played The Nutcracker, and Kseniya created sand art to go with the music. In 2018, she was a special guest at the Wermland opera orchestra's Christmas concert. In August 2018, she performed at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland with pianists Georgy Gromov and Maria Masycheva. They played Cinderella by Prokofiev, and Kseniya brought the story to life with sand. They performed it again in Berlin in December 2018.
With Popular Music
In 2010, Kseniya worked with Japanese singer Fuyumi Abe. She performed sand art in the music video for the song "Sora Ni Mau." In 2011, Kseniya returned to television for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. She performed on stage during the performance of the Ukrainian entry by Mika Newton.
Kseniya's sand art, Share Your Heart, was the background for Ukraine's song "Angel" at Eurovision 2011. They performed in the semifinals and the finals. Ukraine finished in fourth place. Kseniya said she dedicated Share Your Heart to children at a Simferopol orphanage she was helping.
In 2012, Kseniya worked with Esperanza Spalding, a Grammy Award-winning musician. They created a sand story video for the song "Endangered Species." This song was about protecting nature in Amazonia. In 2014, she made two videos for the British rock band Menace. One video, for the song "To the Marrow," used a special "snow graphics" technique. In 2014, she was featured in American R&B singer Joe's music video "If You Lose Her." In 2015, her sand art was used in a video for "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Cadence, a Canadian acapella band.
In May 2019, Kseniya was part of Team Moldova at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. She created a stage act with snow stories for Moldovan singer Anna Odobescu. In 2023, Kseniya created a music video for folk/rock artist August Gilde's song 'Animals'.
Other Art Forms
Graphics
Besides her sand stories, Kseniya has been a graphic artist since 2005. In 2006, she developed her own style called psychoanalytic line graphics. She still works in this unique style today.
Writing
Kseniya has written poems and stories since she was young. In school, she studied old English folk songs and poems. She also translated works by famous poets like Shakespeare and Lord Byron. In 2014, she released her own book called Another Story. It tells about her life and includes her own drawings.
Awards and Recognition
- 2009 - "Person of the Year" finalist in Kyiv
- 2013 - Given the title of Merited Artist of Ukraine
- 2016 - Named "Artist of the Year" at the Yevpatorian Awards
- 2018 - Received The Human Rights Medal for her volunteer and charity work
Art Exhibitions
In 2009, Kseniya had her first art show called Sand Personality. It showed over 300 of her sand art and graphic pictures. This exhibition traveled to cities in Crimea from 2009 to 2010. In 2014, she presented her second exhibition, Another Story. This show included 165 artworks in different styles, like sand animation, graphics, and painting.
In 2017 and 2018, her third exhibition, Sand Geography, opened in Simferopol and Evpatoriya. This exhibition was about the different places she visited around the world. It featured over 100 of Kseniya's artworks, including sand drawings, graphics, and paintings.
Images for kids
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Exhibition: A Sand Personality
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Exhibition: A Sand Personality
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Opening of the exhibition: Kseniya and the Mayor of Yevpatoria
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Exhibition: A Sand Personality
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Exhibition: A Sand Personality
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Exhibition: A Sand Personality
Helping Others
In June 2008, Kseniya and Igor started a local charity called Live, my Sun! (Живи, Солнышко!). This group helps sick children who need medical treatment. They provide support and information to children with cancer.
Working with Brands
In 2010, Kseniya made a sand animation advertisement for The Sunday Times. In 2012, with help from Puma, she created a series of short sand animation films called Dreamcatcher. These films showed the lives and childhood dreams of famous football players like Cesc Fàbregas and Gianluigi Buffon. Kseniya met the athletes, interviewed them, and drew their faces. She then showed their childhood dreams in her sand art. Kseniya and Puma presented these films during UEFA Euro 2012 in Ukraine on TV and the Internet.
Latest Projects
Since 2013, Kseniya has been working on a show called White Era. She uses all her animation skills for this program. In 2017, Kseniya began working on The Forgotten Kingdom — Sand Stories with the Guy Mendilow Ensemble. This project has received funding awards from important organizations like the National Endowment for the Arts.
See also
In Spanish: Ksenia Símonova para niños
