Below, you will find an excerpt from an interview conducted with Ania Luk for The Art Bridge magazine’s from India and United Arab Emirates – the 3rd Edition, released in April 2024. The interview, titled “A Fusion of Cubism and Figuration: The Artistic Vision of Ania Luk“, can be accessed in its entirety at Artiste Culture.
Looking at your early paintings inspired by cubism and the hot climate of Morocco, how do you reflect on those pieces now, and in what ways do you see them influencing your current artistic journey.
These pieces were the natural step in my artistic journey. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be where I am right now. So when I look now at these pieces I see my state of mind and soul at that time – what fascinated me, what I was thinking while painting them. Regardless I do not usually reflect on my previous paintings, because I am now at the different stage of my creative work. I present similar emotions in a different way now. More minimalistic and subtle in a much more narrow colour palette.
Geometry brings peace and order to your work, while abstraction allows you to deliberately disturb proportions to highlight emotions. Can you share specific instances in your artwork where you intentionally disrupted proportions to emphasize certain emotions or themes.
I guess it happens in most of my paintings, maybe not the early ones. At some point I started to break it into individual elements, a little bit on the principal of stained glass. First it was about emphasizing dynamics, movement and over time – about merging the body with the background, while still not losing the figurativeness. In my recent works I don’t disintegrate the form of the body, I perceive it more as colourful surfaces creating decorative elegant shapes.
Beauty and harmony are qualities you’ve always adored in art. How do Modigliani, Klimt, Wroblewski, and Nowosielski influence your pursuit of beauty and harmony in your own creations?
I fell in love with Modigliani’s painting in my teens. His works made a huge impression on me. The way he treated both the lines and the plane seemed so perfect to me. The colour schemes, the way he depicted faces -it’s all so fascinating. In Klimt’s work I admire the sharply stylized and flattened compositions. One of the journalists wrote this about one of his masterpieces: “The Kiss does what a great piece of art is supposed to do: Hold your gaze, make you admire its aesthetic qualities while trying to discern what’s beyond its superficial aspects.” Wroblewski’s paintings carry a load of emotions, which really strikes me. What attracts me the most is their mystery, abstraction, surrealism, the ability to say the unspoken. Nowosielski’s art is imbued with a metaphysical spirit. His painting is an iconlike painting because he perceives human body and the whole visible world in a spiritual perspective. I tend to draw inspiration from each of these artists.
Your paintings have been exhibited globally, from the USA and China to Singapore, South Korea, the UK, Italy, France, and Poland. How has exposure to diverse cultures and art scenes influenced your artistic style and themes?
Well, while creating, I turn to my own way of looking at things. I’m in my own little world, following my own path unhurriedly. My self-improvement, new life experiences – that is what creates my sensitivity and own style. Seeing something and knowing you have to paint it, doesn’t happen to me. My inspiration usually comes from the inside of me. Even the choice of colours depends usually on what mood I’m in. Some of my most “sunny” and vibrant painting where created during long gloomy winters. Besides few artist, whose pieces inspire me continuously and art-deco style which I admire, I am not interested in current artistic trends.
For further information, please refer to Artiste Culture.
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