Valentina Kvesić

Inspiration and the process of creation differs from one artist to another. While she is painting Valentina Kvesić is led by her feelings and intuition which makes her distinct and interesting. Her art is an expression of her instant feelings what results in an individual and unique style. These are flashes and overflows of everything the artist carries in herself what leads the brush in her hand over the canvas. Through this approach she creates artworks of irresistible attractiveness: a symphony of colors, tint and shades, incredible forms and amazing structures.

Broken Clouds

In the interview I conducted with Valentina Kvesić in October 2014, she said that the most important part of creating art is the process, in which she gives herself up to her feelings and intuition.

Valentina Kvesić: “When I start to paint I give myself up to my feelings and intuition. I admire to paint with the colors that inspire me at a specific moment, to let the painting develop itself, to let my feelings guide me and I admire the process of painting evolving the way the material requires it or the image itself. The process itself is for me most important. Before I begin to paint I have an initial idea, but rarely a specific motif. While I paint I allow the initial idea to change, sometimes I even reverse the top of the canvas to the bottom and I continue to paint from that point. At the end I title the painting when the image is almost finished or already finished.”

Another interesting fact is related to Valentina’s process of painting; she often paints simultaneously more artworks.

Wild kitchen

Valentina Kvesić: “I always paint more canvases simultaneously. While I am painting one canvas, I let the other one to dry and in this way I distance myself momentary from the painting. Later I perceive and observe the image in a different light and thus I get new inspiration what I eventually like to add. ”

Valentina Kvesić’s first major solo exhibition was in 2001 in “Bürgerhaus” in Dietzenbach. Since then, her style of painting has changed.

Valentina Kvesić: “Back then my art was not as abstract as it is today.”

Asked whether it was a conscious decision to change the style, Valentina Kvesić replied:
“No, that was not my goal. My style developed spontaneously, it has not happened consciously. I want to paint intuitively and emotionally. I like abstract art because anyone can interpret something else depending on the observer. When visitors of my art exhibitions look at the titles of the paintings, they often start very interesting conversations, especially if they do not associate the titles with the images. These titles are only an option which shows how I see the paintings, what I associated with them, and I do not expect someone to see the same and to accept these titles. For this reason I like abstract art because it offers the viewer the possibility of thinking and fantasising.”

Spirits that I have summoned

The story of a traveler

Undercover

For her paintings Valentina Kvesić has chosen acrylic, a material that allows her to experiment.
Valentina Kvesić: “I like to experiment. While I am painting I get an idea what I should do, what I could try out, for example, to stick something and to unglue it or to use some new materials with which I accomplish a new structure or a special effect. With acrylics it is possible to correct or paint over an image so that it allows experimentation. I gladly accept new painting appearances, I simply let the image be as it should be at a particular moment. I have an initial idea, but I don’t have a certain goal, when I begin to paint, I let it proceed and evolve … ”

Through experimentation Valentina Kvesić has developed a new, original technique which she is applying on a series of paintings called “Cosmos”. All images of  “Cosmos” are painted on canvases of the same size, measuring 24 x 30 cm. She has emphasized her wish to expose once hundred paintings of this cycle in order to achieve the impression of one whole image.

Kosmos (1)

Kosmos (3)

Kosmos (2)

When asked how much time she needs to finish a painting, Valentina Kvesić replied:
Valentina Kvesić: “It varies. Some paintings I make spontaneously in a few hours, but sometimes it takes up to six months to finish them, of course it also depends on the canvas size. When the size is narrow, it is harder for me to work, and large sizes give me more freedom and it is easier to work. I would like the sizes of my paintings to be even bigger, but I choose that size to make the trasportation to the exhibition easier.”

Fire splendor

Colors as inspiration

The colors are a great inspiration for Valentina.
Valentina Kvesić: “Colors are essential to me, they are my inspiration. The colors in my paintings either contrast or harmonize.”

Just as colors and their stunning combinations emerge in Valentina’s art, in her dressing and in the design of her living space, they probably reflect Valentina’s range of interest in different things, too. She likes many different things, and she is optimistic, an always smiling person who loves languages, sports, jokes, and above all to combine colors.

She came from Split to Germany in the 90s when she was ten years old, so that I was wondering whether the strong colors in her paintings are connected to Split where strong colors equally dominate the landscape: blue sea and sky, green Marjan and reflections of the sun.
Valentina Kvesić: “Yes, maybe this remained within me. I love Split and everything related to it…”

Autumn

Melting process

From a life of a dog

Valentina Kvesić has finished the study of pedagogy and psychoanalysis at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. She is employed in an international company with frequent journeys so that she paints only in her free time.

Valentina Kvesić: “A few months before the exhibition I already start with preparations. I usually have the time for painting when I “catch” it or on weekends, I often paint also during a pre-planned time. Since my existence does not depend on my art, I can devote time to my artistic work when there is an impulse and, of course, free time. ”

Since she was ten years old Valentina Kvesić has attended various drawing and painting courses, starting from children courses for beginners to professional ones (among others in the famous school of art Städel in Frankfurt am Main). She has attended courses of the German painter Helmuth Jahn. Although Valentina’s style is quite different from his, Ms Kvesić says that he probably helped her accepting a completely abstract painting.

Valentina Kvesić: “I have developed my own style and I continue to nurture it, I organize my exhibitions, I identify with what I am doing and I believe that my paintings are liked by others too.”

(Dis) balance between light and heavy, will and power, rights and duties

Jasna Lovrinčević: “Do you bind yourself to your paintings?”
Valentina Kvesić: “To some of them more, to some less. My first painting in acrylic I have kept to myself. Emotionally I relate to each of my paintings, because I have left a part of myself in them, and perhaps a bit of my soul. Well, I am glad when others like my paintings and want to have them. ”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “Do you remember your paintings?”
Valentina Kvesić: “Yes, each of them.”

Till now Valentina Kvesić has had 32 solo and group exhibitions in fourteen cities in Germany, and she is preparing an exhibition in Singapore next year.

Luis Alberto Lovrincevich

Luis Alberto Lovrincevich, the artist of great imagination and creativity, has been developing his art and his own technique since his early childhood. It has started as a child’s game that has awakened the imagination and curiosity to the Luis Lovrincevich, a game that has become more complex and more attractive, and that outgrew into an art of different forms and colors with a distinctive expressiveness.

Luis Alberto Lovrincevich is an Argentinian, a descendant of Croatian emigrants who moved to Argentina from the island of Hvar in the late nineteenth century. Lovrincevich was born and he lives in city of La Rioja.

He is known for the technique called urdiraña. In an interview that I conducted with him in June of 2014 he said that a word urdiraña he had taken from poetry of Argentine poet Marie Arguello, because the word urdiraña, (“warp” and “spider) is associated with his work process consisting of pulling the thread over the picked pins.

Luis Lovrincevich: “Urdiraña is a word created by a poet Maria Arguello from La Rioja, connected with the concept of “urdi ” what means to pull the thread and ” raña ” what means spider, to denote the type of art.”

When Luis Lovrincevich was five years old he for the first time run the thread among the pins picked in a cardboard box, set on the triangle drawn on the box surface in a spontaneous game with cardboard box, metal pins and thread. He was excited about that and he was engrossed in this kind of play in his early childhood. His curious boyish spirit drove him to further research for new opportunities and these resulting creations encouraged him to create new ones.

The spontaneous child’s play developed into artistic creativity that repeatedly finds inspiration. Luis Alberto Lovrincevich first exhibition was in 1977 in the Center Hotel, in his hometown of La Rioja, the capital of the Rioja Province situated in northwestern Argentina. He has exhibited in various Argentinien Cities such as (Buenos Aires, Neuquen, Cordoba, Mendoza, San Juan) and in Mexico and Uruguay, too.

Luis Alberto Lovrincevich went through various stages of his art creation

Luis Alberto Lovrincevich: “As a boy I created geometric figures, and in adolescence time, he created human figures with the same technique. In the adulthood I applied painting techniques as perspective, color game and movement through colors and lines. Through this study I was able to achieve, like the painters, the third dimension by manipulating the thickness and amount of woof. In this sense, I was able to express the fourth dimension (hyper space, Tesseract). In the last stage, I worked metaphysically and achieved the harmony of shapes, colors and perspectives. Through meditation I have transferred the peace into my work. ”

 
Jasna Lovrinčević: “What does it mean for you to work metaphysically?”
Luis Lovrincevich: “One’s spiritual crisis that I had in my life allowed me to return to my art on a new technical level, with another vision of life. That is reflected in the expression of my work.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “How did you discover your talent?”
Luis Lovrincevich: “Playing around with a cardboard, a pin and thread. On the box I drew a triangle by the pencil, set the pins at certain intervals by the sides of a triangle and I made lines by the thread. That led me think about it and encouraged me to continue playing. ”

At the request to describe the process of work and this original authentic technique, Luis Lovrincevich explained:

Luis Lovrincevich: “Firstly, you protect wooden surface on which you are drown figures by the pencil. Metal pins are placed at intervals of five millimeter and protected by anti-corrosive agent. On the wooden surface background color is applied. At that point it begins the process of forming a figure by the thread. The perspective is expressed by a color and shape of the thread and that gives the identity of that art which I have created.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “What kind of material do you use for your work?”

Luis Lovrincevich: “I use Chapadur (the name of the color and protection agent for wood), steel nails, sewing thread and paraffin oil for protection against damage.”

Going through the various stages of artistic creation Luis Alberto Lovrincevich has created a rich body of work. One of his works presents the image of St Nicholas. As there is a hill above the village of Sveta Nedjelja on the south part of island Hvar, called St Nichola, with the chapel on the top of it dedicated to St Nicholas too (among the village people known as St. Mikula), I asked him if he had chosen this motive related to his Croatian origin.

Luis Lovrincevich: “In the province of La Rioja Catholic faith is practiced, but this is also a part of the family tradition.”

Luis Alberto Lovrincevich was born in 1960 in La Rioja. Exhibitions with his new concept he held in March 2013th in Villa Sanagasta in La Rioja, Villa Maria in Cordoba 2012th.

Gabrijela Iva Polic

Gabrijela Iva Polic, the young painter from Sydney, was preparing her paintings for the exhibition entitled Sydney Who at The Hughes Gallery in Surry Hills from May 01 – June 10., when she answered my questions about her art, her inspiration and her searching for an own way of art expression.

She finished the College of Fine Arts in Sydney at the end of the year 2013, and she was immediately invited to take part in this exhibition at The Hughes Gallery.

Jasna Lovrinčević: “What does this exhibition mean for you?“
Gabrijela Iva Polic: “For me the exhibition is very important because of the gallery I am working with. The Hughes Gallery currently represented very established Australian artists and they have been known to help start the careers of very recognised artists who are now internationally known. I am just happy that a gallery of such stature has acknowledged me at such an early stage in my career.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “When did you discover your talent for painting and how?“
Gabrijela Iva Polic: “I have been creating things ever since I was a child, and have always loved using my hands. But I must admit when I entered art school I was not a skill-ful painter at all. I struggled with technique a lot at art school, and was not happy with my lack of knowledge in techniques so I would explore alternatives and other media which would hide my lack of knowledge, such as collage or sewing. I always tried to make something beautiful, something I would be proud of, without having to make a proper painting. Last year, 2013, was my final year of university and I was fed up with the fact that I went to art school to learn how to paint, but no teacher really ever taught me anything. I knew I had the desire and the ability to do well at painting if I put my mind to it, but contemporary art schools in Australia rarely teach traditional techniques any more as they push for artists to broaden their mind and create new and exciting things. Much of the time they steer us painters away from painting and lead us to new mediums like video art, photography, sculpture, installation etc. For the reason that I was not increasing my technical knowledge I sought a mentor to teach me techniques I wanted to learn. Her name is Marisa Purcell, she a well recognised and established Australian artist. From our first lesson my skills increased tenfold. I was in the studio every day from 7:30-4 every single day practising, practising, practising and experimenting. I was the only one in school who did this, I was the first one there in the morning and sometimes the last to leave. I got to the stage where I am now, but I still have a lot to learn.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “Where do you find inspiration?”
Gabrijela Iva Polic: “My latest body of work was inspired by the photographic work of Andres Miguel, in particular ‘Woodland Magic’. This work is a photograph of two mushrooms in a beautiful forest. I discovered that mushrooms or fungus exchange minerals and nutrients for sugar with surrounding trees. This photograph made me think of our relationships as humans, and how we give nutrients to each other in the form of loving relationships (friends, family etc). I always think of a quote by C.S. Lewis who once said “It is our friendships that give value to survival”. The idea of these relationships that have intrinsic value in our lives is why I adorn some of the paintings with cell-like patterns that can look like pearls or clusters of diamonds, necklaces or jewellery. In saying this, my work is deeply personal and most of the pictures and compositions come from my own imagination, intuition and emotions. I have only recently (the last week) begun to look at scientific botanical illustration so I can continue and expand this body of work.

Jasna Lovrinčević: “I have seen some of your paintings with beautiful schapes and colours. Some of them remind me of some sea-creatures or cells, what does it mean; life as inspiration, or life creation as inspiration, or God’s creation as eternal beauty….”
Gabrijela Iva Polić: “You are very right in seeing creatures and cells in the paintings. Many times these creatures in my paintings have relationships and connections to each other where they are feeding off, growing from and nurturing one another. In nature, these relationships between different species are called mutualistic relationships. Here one creature/animal/plant will help the other survive by protecting them and giving them nutrients. I use these creatures and scenes in nature as a metaphor for how we live in relationships as humans. Without our loving friends and family, our lives are dull. They give us joy, purpose, support and emotional strength. This, I think is what like is all about, these connections and relationships. Without them we would have nothing and our souls would be dull. Throughout life we meet many people on the way. As we interact and spend time with friends, we sometimes unknowingly, learn from them, take on some of their interests, ways of thinking or speaking, and develop as a person. Through all of these relationships we blossom into the person that we are. It is just like how flowers and bees work.

Jasna Lovrinčević: “You have once mentioned that love is your inspiration; if you could please say more about that. Where does it reflect; in your choice of colours, or motives, or in something else?”

Gabrijela Iva Polic: “My teachers would always say to me, paint about what is important to you. Many young and contemporary artists make art about politics and all the things that are wrong with this world. I am not concerned with politics, I have never cared much for it, I am interested in the things that make me joyful and the things that bring me to despair. Although joy and sadness are completely different, much of the time these strong emotions come from love. Love, can equally make us blissful or distraught. Through the act of painting, I seek to understand love and it’s impact on myself. When I am making a painting, sometimes I remember a hard time in my life and I tap into those emotions. I think of the people who were with me, how they protected me and cared for me. I think of the love hold in my heart for my dearest ones and try to put this into the work. As I mentioned before, it is these loving relationships that help us grow. I think this can be seen in the colour and compositions. How the elements in the picture work together and talk to each other.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “What do you think: is it hard for young artists to be original, to find their own way, or own style of painting?”
Gabrijela Iva Polic: “At first I think it is very hard to develop your own language as an artist. But I think this comes with time and persistence. The only way you will be original and develop your own style is to work every single day.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “What kind of technique do you prefer?”
Gabrijela Iva Polic: “Sometimes I can sit and paint dots all day because it is very meditative. Other times I can be more free with a large brush. It really depends on how I am feeling on the day.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “Who is your favourite painter? Is there any painter who has influenced your work?“
Gabrijela Iva Polic: “Del Kathryn Barton has always been a large influence from the start of my studies. The sense of connection in her work is always what draws me in.
Ross Bleckner is another artist I am inspired by.”

Gabrijela Iva Polic has also mentioned the names of her famous teachers like David Eastwood, famous for painting interiors, Oliver Watts, theorist, lecturer, and artist, famous for portraiture and Marisa Purcell, famous for her abstract paintings.

Gabijela was born in Sydney. Her origin is Croatian. Her parents came to Australia from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Gabriela often travels to Europe.