Q&A Collectors Art Prize 30.03.2023
What’s your background?
I am a Danish artist based in Copenhagen and started my career as a professional artist in 2010. I studied Philology at the Moscow State University and later continued my studies at the University of Copenhagen. From 1977 to 2010 I worked with teaching languages, journalistic and IT prior to moving focus to creating art.
In 2014 the I held my first exhibition in Copenhagen and since in New York, Paris, Amsterdam, Saint Petersburg, Barcelona and London. Today, my works are held in the private collections across world - in USA, Canada, Spain, Sweden and Denmark among others.
What does it mean to you to win the Collectors Art Prize?
A lot. I try to connect to a broad and diverse audience, and I see winning the Collectors Art Prize as a sign of succeeding in this endeavor.
What do you think is the role of art in the world today?
Art first and foremost has to communicate depth, complexity and nuance. It shouldn’t be fast, easy or merely meant to please the eye. It has to be calorically dense, so to speak, in order for it to make a true mark as art and not a fast moveable consumer good.
I believe that one of the greatest challenges of today’s world is the ability to maintain attention on something for a longer period of time, to give the brain room to really absorb knowledge, insights, and art of course. We are held captive by a state of unrest, but in the end, beauty and profoundness will save the world. This is the role of art in the world as I see it.
What would it be if you could change one thing about the art world?
I think that the process is ongoing now. I wish that women in the art world gain more respect and recognition. Of course only based on artistic quality, it is not a question of gender but there are many incredible female artists who are getting deserved recognition with some delay. But - better late than never!
What are your most significant professional achievements?
I think, that the show at MEAM - - International Biennale in Barcelona, MEAM Museum (European Museum of Modern Art of Barcelona), Spain. November 2022 was on of those.
And I will also be happy to announce my Solo Exhibition at Himmerland Museum of Art in Denmark this autumn 2023 (starting on September 2 - October 15.
What do you wish to tell viewers about your work that might not come out explicitly? What do you hope to inspire with your artwork?
I think of myself as a translator of culture and ideas but with enough ambiguity in my expression to leave room for interpretation. For me personally, I appreciate that whatever meaning you derive from art is ultimately a projection of your inner self, your dreams, desires and fears. Delacroix said that a good piece of art can say more than any text, and I think that's very true. Kandinsky compared art to language with a deep interconnection between the heart, mind and soul. I chose painting over writing as my form of expression, because art captures more nuances and emotions than words can. I am also impatient and crave fast results, and painting is the only medium where my ideas find their expression at the same speed as they appear in my mind. They are most often based on things I read, culture, literature, current and past history, and my canvases are large because I need space for every nuance of what I'm trying to convey.
What advice would you give to the upcoming generation of artists?
Be authentic. Get more education and knowledge. Be open and love what you are doing instead of trying to figure out what the world will respond well to.
Personally, I don't believe in the notion of a 'right first time' when it comes to painting. Instead, I believe that new meaning appears dynamically, and that you have to let go and let the work go on to complete itself; sometimes over years. So my advice to upcoming artists would in essence be: Practice a growth mindset by continuously improving and trying something new as you go along.
In what direction would you like to see your career go in the next five years?
I want to prioritize time and attention for making some truly innovative and communicative pieces of art in the next five years. I also hope to be able to expand even further on the audience that my art appeals to.
If I can be very bold and open about my aspirations, I would stay that my vision for the future involves delivering some great showings in respected and recognized museums.
In terms of the content and concepts I’m looking at, I am exploring the notion of the ‘unfinished’ in the visual arts. There are works left incomplete and works using a non finito—intentionally unfinished— aesthetic that embraces the unresolved. Artists like Cézanne, and modern artists Jackson Pollock and Robert Rauschenberg, have taken the unfinished in entirely new directions, blurring the distinction between making and un-making, extending the boundaries of art, and inviting the viewers to make own interpretations. I would like to find my voice in this movement as well.
Finally, I am inspired by the looser norms of what constitutes 'good' art. The art world has become more inclusive, which leaves room for a much wider variety. I don’t necessarily agree with or like everything out there, but I appreciate that there is room for it. This gives me the courage to deliver an unpolished, authentic expression of my inner self to an audience when I feel it’s ready.