A Conversation with an Artist on Inspiration, Women and Creativity.
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Kooness: Tell us about the DDR Frau – Wireless Calls Collection
Ana Sluga: The series of paintings named DDR Frau - Wireless Calls, tells a story of a contemporary woman from the Western World. It provides questions as to what are contemporary roles of women, how the close history has influenced her, what are her fears, pleasures and secret wishes. As well, I was asking myself questions concerning the transitions and changes we went through during the last 50 years and what kind of positive or negative consequences they bring.
K: Why do the main characters in your artworks not have facial traits ?
AS: I wanted to focus more on what the main character has to tell rather than focusing on her facial mimicry. The idea was to connect her figure with the objects around her. To paint a faceless figure is also a bigger challenge and excitement for me, as I have to find a way to tell the mood she is in with new tools and hints.
K: Is there any artist that inspired you?
AS: I was not inspired by any artist or anything from art history. The series of paintings is related to my personal experience, it is a kind of intimate interpretation of a world around me. The strongest influence is the frustration faced by the Homo Sapiens in the last couple of decades.
K: What was your technique for this collection?
AS: I tried to experiment a lot with different color layers which I mainly used for the backgrounds. Mostly, I was facing a problem with how to get different levels of transparency and different types of materials. In my work, I use acrylic on paper or canvas, spray, pencils, charcoal.
K: What is the representation of women within your collection?
AS: I wanted to express it in a latent and subtle way; with some hints of my personal story and place it in the character of a contemporary woman. For me, it was very important that this woman I paint is showing part of myself, and at the same time, is a representation of any woman that can or wants to identify with a painting.
K: How did you choose the color focus of your collection?
AS: The color harmony is one of the most emotional parts of creation. In the beginning, I decide what kind of mood I want to have within the painting and then the colors and nuances come to me in an irrational way. Only in the last part of work do I do didactic color corrections if necessary. Usually I try to describe these first moods with adjectives as cold, dreamy, enthusiastic, hectic, lazy, critical. I am always fascinated by how strong an impact it could have on our experiences and perceptions.
K: How did your provenance influence your artworks?
AS: I made main decisions and experiments about the series in the time of Corona lock down. I was spending most of my time alone in the studio and was not much involved in local art scenes. When I look back I see this time as a very precious one, there was no, less or little influence of anything.
K: What is the message you want your watchers to hold onto after leaving the exhibition?
AS: I do not put any attention on how my work will be viewed externally. The main rule in my work is to create something innovative, contemporary, intelligent, emotionally strong and specially not seen yet.
K: Does your artworks relate to any political or social event?
AS: The series DDR Frau (Wireless Calls) was partly inspired by objects and aesthetics that have been used in the 80's. This was a time of my childhood, which radically formed me. These early memories and experiences are always a big challenge to face and probably interesting enough to make art.
Cover Image: Ana Sluga. No Title 22, 2021. Courtesy of Bazato Gallery
Written by: Kooness