Anna Leontieva

I fell in love with the art of shibari at first sight

My name is Anna Leontieva. Here is a little story about my way to shibary art. One day, when I was a student at the Academy of Arts I have a philosophical discussion with my old friend. We where talking about many interesting things. Ancient aesthetics, Buddism, art. And sudenly he asked how I feel about shibari. He showed me photos of roped models, suspensions, kinbaku (japanese bondage). AND BANG! I got into it!!! At that moment my pupils definitely widened with pleasure, because to create such beauty was unthinkable joy. The realization that in this world there is something that can satisfy my sense of aesthetics and my requirements for art brought me into a wild thrill. What can be more beautiful than the human body?

In kinbaku I found what I so badly lacked

What can be more perfect than consciousness, feelings and emotions? What can be more pleasant than interaction with such perfection?
In shibari I found what I so badly lacked in the art, namely life itself. As in the story of Pigmalion, Aphrodite revived the statue, so shibari burst into my life and revived art. It embodied my concept of ideal creativity, not only because of the increased aesthetics of what I created, but also because of the inner fullness. Each touch of the rope to the body is filled with real feelings, the model does not just look attractive in ropes, he/she experiences the form in which he/she is. All that happens is a real experience, it’s impossible to tell lies in ropes. This is not a situation which you can replay or not finish playing. The senses themselves become the subject of art.
And the cherry on the cake is the psychological aspect, I’m sure that with the help of a rope you can get to the most secret corners of the psyche, free the buried fantasies, desires and dreams the unrealization of which burdens you and prevents you from enjoying life fully.