Valeria Valeryevna Lukyanova (Ukrainian: Ð'алеÌÑ€Ñ–Ñ Ð'алеÌріївна Лук'ÑÌнова; Russian: Ð'Ð°Ð»ÐµÑ€Ð¸Ñ Ð'алерьевна ЛукьÑнова; born on August 23, 1985) is a Ukrainian model and entertainer, famous for her resemblance to a Barbie doll. To enhance the Barbie effect Lukyanova uses makeup and contact lenses over her naturally green/gray/blue eyes. She has stated that she has had breast implants, but that the rest of her body is natural and slender due to daily gym workouts and a particular diet.
Career
In 2007, Lukyanova won the world wide beauty contest "Miss Diamond Crown of the World". The beauty pageant was open to any women, had about 300 contestants, and had no rule forbidding plastic surgery or body modification. She subsequently had multiple photo sessions and interviews published in Russian media, including erotic photos. Lukyanova developed a worldwide following for her Barbie doll-like appearance after she posted photos and videos of herself on the web. She gained notoriety after reports of her "almost inhuman beauty" surfaced online. The first notable coverage of her from outside Russia was on the Jezebel blog, followed by a photo session in V by Sebastian Faena. The media described her as being like a living Barbie doll.
There has been scepticism of Lukyanova. ABC News suggested that Lukyanova was a hoax aided by image editing software. Diane Levin regarded Lukyanova as an example of the negative effects of media objectification. To counter the image editing accusations, Lukyanova posted videos on YouTube and appeared on Russia-1 and Channel One Russia TV channels. Lukyanova admitted to having breast augmentation but no other plastic surgery, and denies that she had ribs removed to make her waist smaller. Lukyanova blamed people unconnected to her for altering photos of her younger self in a malicious attempt to imply she had received body modifications.
Lukyanova is an "instructor" at the School of Out-of-Body Travel, described as "an international school in which our instructors show students how to leave their physical body and travel in their spiritual body." Her "spiritual name" is Amatue.
She is a composer, an opera singer, and has recorded two albums of new-age music, Sun in the Eyes and 2013 using the name Amatue. she wrote a book, Astral Travel Amatue, about her astral trips which she made available in 2012 as an RTF file to download for free from her website.
In 2013 Lukyanova was the subject of an episode of Vice's My Life Online documentary series entitled Space Barbie. In 2013 she participated in the documentary movie The Phase, which was released on YouTube in 7 languages. She had her debut starring role in a feature film in The Doll (2016), a horror movie directed and written by Susannah O’Brien. The film, which also includes Mindy Robinson and Ron Jeremy, revolves around Lukyanova's character, an escort made from doll parts created by a doctor to recruit others to kill, and the two men who requested her.
As of March 2014, Lukyanova had 997,812 Facebook fans, 10,030 Twitter followers, over 30 million views on YouTube, and also, as of August 2013, there are 336,565 followers in the Russian social network VK.
Personal life
Lukyanova was born on 23 August 1985 in Tiraspol, in what was then part of Moldavian SSR in the Soviet Union. Her mother, Irina, worked for the military sector and her father was a builder who also worked part-time as a disc jockey. She lived in Odessa, Ukraine from age 16 until 2014. She has a bachelor's degree in architecture from Odessa State Academy of Constructions and Architecture.
Lukyanova claims to be of "Eastern Baltic, but closer to Nordic" origin. She is married to Ukrainian businessman Dmitry Shkrabov, her childhood friend. She is a strict raw vegetarian, living on a liquid diet.
In a 2014 GQ interview, she expressed her views on race-mixing, describing it as a problem, stating, "Ethnicities are mixing now, so there's degeneration". She said that she does not want to have children or a "family lifestyle."
In 2014 Lukyanova reported to police that she was punched and strangled by two men outside her home, after receiving anonymous threats for over the past two years. She was hospitalized and released a week later.
In 2014, because of the War in Donbass, Ukraine, Lukyanova moved from Odessa to Moscow, then later to Mexico.
Discography
Albums
- 2009: Sun in the Eyes
- 2013: 2013
Single appearances
- "One Expectation" (2013) â€" by Alessandra Ambrosio ft. Amatue
Music videos
- 2010: "Venus"
- 2011: "Endless eternity"
Bibliography
- Astral Travel Amatue (2012)
Filmography
- The Phase (2013) â€" documentary movie
- The Doll (Sahara Vision Productions, 2016) â€" feature film, directed and written by Susannah O’Brien
See also
- Sarah Burge
- Venus Angelic
References
External links
- Valeria Lukyanova on IMDb