I will admit I was wrong. I thought that 2020 was going to be the most difficult year in the art world. But no, it was only this year that the monster has bared its teeth.
2021 was a year of lesser-than-usual productivity, either due to my precarious spiritual state which was incompatible with creation, or the rhythm of life slowly grinding to a halt, or the total lack of inspiration in a city in which culture is currently suffocating; the blockage was too great and too hard to overcome so I tried not to fight it.
This year, I’ve focused most on research for project Bessarabia, which I’ve started a while back and which is shaping up to be a multimedia project. Apart from this, I’ve tried to find my art tribe and support the artists I love as much as I can. Ultimately, it’s the people in your field of work who know best what it’s like to stay on the sidelines asking yourself “now what?”. I have offered and I have received help. I’m writing this article in my new studio because we have also moved last year and I hope the new location will bring about inspiration.
We have, in no particular order: an exhibition at an independent art space in Sibiu, a series of artworks on refugees (part of the Bessarabia project), abstract and minimalist pieces in oil colours on large canvases about extreme phenomena caused by climate change, taking part in European street art festivals and some illustrations.
These photos come from my community who has helped me in more ways than one to cross the pandemic void that has become increasingly wider, separating me from the people who believe in the power that art can have on their lives. This is exactly why I started 2021 with hope and the drive to make art.
In January, I got invited to take part in the first sticker festival in Romania, Bucharest Sticker Fest, organised by Vali Dobrin, who created the Alternative Bucharest Tour, a tour of the street art of Bucharest. So this was my opportunity to create new stickers, this time die cut stickers. After sending my stickers to Vali and with him promoting every artist on instagram, I got invited to take part in many other such events organised in Europe and beyond. A sort of mail art initiative with practical applications. I answered the call of Madrid Sticker Fest, who have donated all profits received from this event to a stray pitbull shelter, and that of Jens Regler, the organiser of Malmö Stickerfest, the second largest event like this in the world. It was a welcoming experience that made me feel accepted and part of a greater collective of artists, even if I’m not your classical street artist.
I decided to flesh out an older idea: to use a grid structure as an instrument for the painting of a large oil artwork. It all started with a cardboard grid with equally-sized squares of 6 by 6 which I was going to throw out. I kept it and made a bunch of sketches using it in 2017 and then the idea went into hibernation. I like the idea of creating an artwork within an artwork (its parts are equal but the composition might differ), of having a bunch of graphic components that are symmetrical and equally distributed – this tickles my need for order, and of representing a scientific concept through abstract art in the attempt to capture the essence of a certain phenomenon.
Here are the sketches from 2017.
Finally, two large abstract pieces on linen canvas emerged: “Sandstorm in Beijing” and “Forest is Burning”, both attempting to represent the magnitude of the impact of climate change.
“Forest is Burning” has been exhibited on the central wall at NOOK since October (many thanks to Ioana Pasc for her generosity). I have no photos with the painting hanging on the wall there yet, but here are some progress pictures.
The last two pictures are satellite images of the 2021 forest fires in British Columbia (Canada) and Siberia (Russia).
In August, I wrote a proposal for a personal exhibition to the independent art space, arta.nonstop. I intended to exhibit the abstract works I just mentioned plus a video piece. We ended up focusing on the Mother Ship and I’m glad we did. That’s how “Short Documentation of the Mother Ship” (29 Aug – 17 Sep) was born and I’ve reported on that here. The artwork was widely received and appreciated while I was able to talk more about the process behind making the piece.
Then I wholeheartedly focused my last bits of energy on moving house.
Everyone I know is exhausted, we are functioning on a low level of energy and there’s not much hope for things to get better this year. But I’ve stopped imposing on myself, I’ve stopped swimming against the tide and taking it easy. I hope you all can do the same. Thank you for being here.