Malina, how did you do it? How do you ensure your place in the print version of the American fashion bible?
Indeed, I appeared in the April American edition of "Vogue" in Manhattan as a featured artist, by New York art gallery and art operator Artifact. I'm now waiting for a shipment of "Vogue" magazine, because unfortunately I couldn't make it to New York when the show was on. But I am very happy, because it is indeed a great fun to show my paintings in just such a magazine, which shows fashion and way of life at the most exclusive level. So I have great joy and satisfaction.
Is the art market a tough market? Most of the graduates of the Academy of Fine Arts, somewhere are lost.
For me, this is another professional challenge. At one point, after the Academy of Fine Arts, when I was exhibiting my works, professionally I also did other things, for example, I was involved in social campaigns. I built the Motivation School Foundation. Later, doing all this, I gained experience in other fields as well. In view of this, with my art, which is conceptual, this experience was extremely valuable. Looking at the art market at the moment, I have to admit that it's actually marketing. Besides the fact that these works are simply beautiful, they can decorate someone's home, residence or office (for example, corporations buy entire collections). Gathering life experiences and translating them into conceptual art was another developmental step for me in my career, but also in the development of my identity as a human being, not only as a creator, a person who realizes herself in the various fields of art that is life.
The main characters of your paintings are women. What is it like for women artists? In literature, the term "menstrual literature" was coined. And how is it in painting?
In painting, looking at the history of art, the majority of artists are, of course, men. It was much more difficult for women. On the other hand, at the moment I see a change. There is a huge curiosity about women's art. Women's art doesn't have to be feminine at all. She is actually very dynamic. I would say that there is a tremendous energy even aggression coming out of some of the paintings. This can be seen at the current art biennale, held in Venice, or at various fairs. In my opinion, at the moment the interest towards the art that women create is huge.
How should art be financed? There used to be an institution of patronage by rich people or the state over artists. Today, you can raise funds via the Internet. There are all kinds of collections like patronite. What does it look like from your perspective? Because I understand that it's not easy to be a full-time artist.
I think it is very difficult to be a full-time artist. I happen to be in the fortunate situation that I also have other professional activities, with which I can balance some kind of expenses, such as sending exhibition works to exhibitions overseas, which of course is expensive. Patronage as such continues to function. Only here there is one remark for me, galleries usually, especially the top ones, take the artist under their curatorship and overall care. That is, this person is already tied to a particular gallery on an exclusive basis. For me art, at least at the moment, is a kind of freedom. I, for the time being, am not interested in this type of solution. Of course, if it were one of the largest galleries in the world I would probably be the happiest person in the world. But in other relationships I prefer to try different solutions and different kinds of cooperation with galleries. This is immensely satisfying for me, also because these exhibitions thanks to this I have a lot more.
Is contemporary art difficult?
I think this effort, it is this challenge of thinking. Contemporary art is not just decorative art. This is probably the most important thing. I also create in this trend. My art is conceptual art. In my case, the human body is the starting point about what is important. Where we have cultural codes and where it comes from (for example, with the Madonna series). What is the contemporary so-called holiness? Does it come from who we are internally, or is it influenced, for example, by the culture of the region we come from, or the one we want to live in? All these connections and answers to who we are today as women, mothers, lovers, wives, all these roles that are intertwined, but also, for example, creators, entrepreneurs. Who is and what do we bring with this our being to the modern world? It's a great pleasure at the moment to have the time to look at contemporary art consciously. Not just fly through a museum or a gallery, but to sit down, to really take the time and find the answer within oneself as to what the work is all about.
You said that your paintings are not only decorative. Do you sometimes wonder what kind of home your painting goes into? What emotions does it give to the household members? What do they think when they look at it?
This is interesting, because many times when I met with people who purchased my paintings, they told what they saw in them. And the stories were different. Everyone found something different. After some time, when a given painting is already at someone's home, this person tells me: you know, he now resonates with me in a completely different way. It means something different to me, something different I just managed to find in that painting. This is probably the greatest joy for the creator. I, knowing the people who have bought my paintings, know with whom they will serve a purely decorative function, and with whom they will be a challenge, that they will want to face. This can be seen from the choices, lighter or feisty work.
Who buys your paintings?
My paintings are in several headquarters of the bank PKO S. A. They are also with collectors around the world. And this is a great joy. I'm happy when people come back to me and say, I'm looking for a place to have another of your works. This is a great satisfaction.
And do you believe in the influence of the stars on our lives?
Recently there has been a lot of talk about this because there have been star systems that do not happen often i.e. they occur once every few thousand years. So I think the planets have an impact on our lives. I even started quite recently a new series of works "woman and planet".
Your woman is no longer single....
Yes, it is already correlated with a celestial body, a star. This is also to see how the body aligns with what the planet carries. The last painting "Woman and Mars" is actually stronger. It is also an appeal to color. Now I have started another painting "Black sun". Black sun is a phrase that is combined in mystical texts. There are also conspiracy theories of history about it. It has been part of all sorts of writing and songs. And I thought to myself that for me it's like a moment of transition. The black sun, which can be associated with something negative, is precisely our experience of difficult moments, which we should not turn away from, which are worth taking care of and which are worth looking at and loving a little. Then with a greater awareness of the fact that this belongs to our life with different colors, dark and light, if we integrate this within ourselves, then with full maturity and awareness we will be able to go towards what is the bright side of life, towards the true light. Then it will be fully available to us.
Will you professionally swap safe harbor for art sailing?
I think you can do two things at the same time. And that's what I do. I don't think I've ever had a safe haven in my life. Because the multitude of things I've dealt with and am dealing with is so large that there would be enough for several professional lives. Such is my nature that I am unable to sit idle and enjoy what I have already achieved. Of course, I enjoy everything very much. But such are the times we have. It's not like 100 years ago that if someone has achieved success in a certain field, he or she will then be able to carry on for 40 years. The current world demands that you do new things, take on new challenges. This, on the one hand, is difficult. But on the other hand, it keeps us young all the time. We simply have energy that is released and that also comes back to us through such activities.
