11 questions with Maria Slovakova
For the second interview of my new series, 11 questions with, I caught up with contemporary artist Maria Slovakova, whose vibrant art brings joy to my heart whenever and wherever I spot one of her beautiful pieces. Here are her 11 answers. Enjoy!
What are you making these days?
For the last month, I’ve been busy creating a small product collection to present this winter, as well as making new paintings and drawings…quite a lot of new creatures came to mind this spring, so working with them to appear on all different surfaces.
Where are you making it?
At my studio
If you could pick one person to make art with, dead or alive, who would it be?
I would love to spend time with Diego Velázquez. His work fascinates me.
What's your superpower?
Patience.
What's been your favourite project you ever worked on?
Hand painting a GMC van for Baldwin Baldwin at a local garage while the mechanic was fixing a tractor. That was in Eastern Townships in Quebec, Canada. It was so much fun.
What's been the most challenging project you ever worked on?
Certainly ‘Be nice’ wall at Trencin airport during Pohoda festival in 2006, it was the first mural of that scale (cca 4m x 2.5m) I did on my own and in front of people. Plus that wall surface was built at an angle…so I had to kind of lay on the ladder…it was bit of a tricky one to work out. But I got it right in the end.
What's your guilty pleasure?
Cookies.
What's the one object you would bring to a desert island?
Carving knife. So I would have no excuse anymore to make the sculptures I’ve talked about for all these years.
Have you ever destroyed a piece of art?
No.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
‘Find the right technique for the idea or the concept that you have in mind.’
What inspires you?
I keenly observe the human ways of living life as well as nature systems…I love how both organisation and chaos of what we live like can bring you moments you could never invent. I reflect on this when I write poetry. That, and love and emotion. :)
In visual art, most of the characters come to paper spontaneously, I have no control over the moment they happen to arrive. Images used to pour out of me, now I have a bookcase shelf filled with sketchbooks that I go back to, in search of inspiration, whenever I need to. I try to keep the flow and focus going, when I do not draw or paint, I create digital images or write. To me, inspiration comes with the ability to focus and tap into the subconscious tv I carry within my mind.
I hope you enjoyed the second interview in the series. Stay tuned for more interviews with artists, makers and creatives coming soon. Never miss an issue by subscribing to my mailing list, and in the meantime feel free to take a look at my blog and some of my work as an artist.