“Stones”

Art is, to me, an endless story. It’s like an ongoing conversation. It always arises from an inner need. I don’t remember ever creating a painting or a graphic on commission. When I start a new work with a relatively formed image in my mind, I never know how it will end. It is always a journey; sometimes it’s a bumpy road, and sometimes it’s smooth, but it’s always fascinating in its anticipation of the final outcome. If, during the process, I see that this road leads nowhere, I stop working and never return to that subject. Drawing conclusions from the failure, I begin a new painting.

The inspiration for this new cycle came from everything I’ve seen in the place where I’ve lived for two years, namely the sea and the mountains.

I’ve never spent so much time (except during vacations) by the vast sea, which I look at every day, in every season and at any time of the day. At night, it fascinates me with the depth of its navy blue, and together with the dark purple of the sky, it creates an almost limitless abyss. The sea is surrounded by rocky bays. The nearby mountains surrounding this place to the north awaken in me a desire to explore them up close. Just an hour’s drive away, we find ourselves in the so-called Low Alps (around 2300 meters above sea level), where everything one can dream of is there: endless mountain ranges separated by green valleys with shimmering lakes. All of this couldn’t help but influence my creative work, which I resumed after a break. Now, in my paintings, one can clearly see the influence of nature, and that’s how it will stay for now. I see how the change of environment and what I look at every day have influenced what I’m currently doing. All of this happens in a very natural way. Certainly, in addition to the change of environment, my work is influenced by frequent contact with the art of the 19th and 20th centuries, which I hold in the highest regard. Discovering lesser-known masterpieces by these great painters in local museums brings me immense joy and undoubtedly inspires me in some way. For example, it was a profound experience to discover a collection of works by my favorite masters, which have been hanging since the 1950s in a restaurant in one of the charming nearby towns. Among them are Picasso, de Staël, Matisse, Y. Klein, and Calder. In the collection of the nearby Maeght Foundation Museum, one can admire works by the greatest and most important artists of the 20th century. Present there are, among others, Braque, Bonnard, Chagall, Giacometti, Kandinsky, Léger, and Miró.

The new cycle that I’ve started here is different from the previous ones in terms of subject matter, technique, and materials used. Currently, I work a lot with acrylics, but I also use other water-based paints like watercolors or gouache. I use pencils less frequently – and if I do, they are watercolor pencils. In my works, you can also see various colors of inks. Generally, I don’t think much about technique – I work fairly intuitively. After years, I’ve managed to master my craft, and I try to add something new from time to time that allows me to express myself even better.