Olga Sychugova

I have realised that I am somewhat different from when I was a kid, during many conversations about cinematic versions of books we read with friends. They all seemed to have had images of characters in their had, and said things like "this is not how I imagined this." So, for about 20 years, I kind of knew that I struggled in a different way than some people - with drawing, reading (descriptions of people make 0 sence to me), as well as writing. Recently, my wife and I started a new hobby - making jewellery, and I realised the striking difference between us. She would come to class with a clear image of what she wanted to make, both on paper and in her head, so for her, the only question was technique. For me, visualising the final thing and how to get to it was literally impossible, so creating somewhat unique pieces was not exactly on the cards. So, I started by copying other people (I do not sell my pieces), saved a ton of references, and then just figured out stuff by working with what I had and remaking them until I liked them. That, btw, led to limiting, or, rather, pointing me to the media I need to use - without a clear picture, it's impossible for me to work with right away metal, so I chose wax (either carving or modelling). Once I started explaining my struggles to our friends, one of them said, "Wow, I think I read about it. It has a name!" And this is how I found out that I am part of a huge community of people who experience the world the way I do!