In dialogue with Katja Novitskova, who dialogues with animals and Hieronymus Bosch

 

Her standing two dimensional images of animals ad trees are becoming a positive way out of the narrow corridor of not figurative and existentialistic abstraction that has been dominating the art scene lately. Her next solo show is expected in late 2014 at Kraupa-Tuskany Ziedler. Meanwhile she is in residence at the Rijksakademie Van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam, where Conceptual Fine Arts reached Katja Novitskova on the phone.

Why did you chose to live in Amsterdam?

I did my master studies in Amsterdam and i am now in a two year residency but after that i’ll probably move to Berlin.

So you are not particularly interested in the city itself?

It’s just by accident that i ended up in Amsterdam, but it’s a good accident.

Which is your favorite museum in Amsterdam?

I haven’t been to Rijksmuseum actually. I have been to Stedelijk and to Van Gogh’s one and to an archeological one. But I usually go to museums with my mum. I grew up traveling to Saint Petersburg almost every year and I went to the Hermitage many times, so all these museums just feel like a smaller version if compared to the Hermitage.

What is your favorite subject?

I didn’t go to a normal art school, I was studying semiotics and graphic design and digital media, but gradually I became an artist for specific reasons. My main interest is a large time scale. I like to look at very contemporary things, like pop culture or technology and compare them to something very ancient, something natural. Then this idea came in my mind, that if we think about contemporary technology the best way to understand it is to think about animal as a form of technology. By looking at animals this way you realize that they are so much more complex than anything that would ever be built as humans. Also their beauty is part of that technology. There is this aesthetic element that goes through the evolution of life on earth which is built into that life. The aesthetic element is already in the animals whether humans are around or not. I want to explore this idea of aesthetics which is not just human. That’s why I started to pick images of animals as my kind of gesture, because I know that for some reason it has a very strong and simple effect as a work. For example, a three year old child could react to it but also if you want to dig deep and have a discourse about it, it’s possible too. There are different layers to the work. It has different access. It’s not an accident but it’s again the consequence of the fact that animals have this kind of aesthetic form. Maybe later I will go from animals to something…

So, could we affirm that your favorite subject is the beauty of the universe?

Well, a kind of evolution of that. Not just the static idea of it, but the process.

Hence, a complex idea of this beauty.

Yes, this complex evolution of form and aesthetics. And also of emotions, because a lot of these aesthetic elements are related to emotions. The idea that a baby animal is cute has to do with aesthetics but also with emotions.

You generally use iconic images. Do you believe in abstraction?

Yes, although for me abstract forms are not very different from figurative ones. Maybe for a fly which flies around a cow a dolphin is an abstract form. What is abstract for us human may not be abstract for somebody else. So there is no real difference between abstract and not abstract.

That is to say, doing abstraction or not could depend on the eye of the viewer.

Yes, it depends on who is looking at the patterns.

Do you think in terms of abstraction when you conceive your images, your structures?

No, I just take them for what they are. I don’t look at the image of an animal as an abstract form. I choose the forms that trigger me, personally, in different ways. Sometimes it can be an abstract form that works in terms of composition and of emotions, too. Usually it’s a combination of the two. Every sculpture has to be a form that would stand by itself. So there’s a limit to what kind of visual form it should be. Basically the way I select the animal is a combination of these factors: I look at the image and I have to think to myself “this is beautiful, this is cute”, and the second thing has to be a shape that works, which could also be a clumsy shape. It doesn’t need to have some kind of divine harmony, it’s more like that somehow it works. I can’t really explain what that exactly means.

You probably “feel” the right shape.

Yes, definitely. The right shapes sometimes can be very wrong but they are nevertheless right.

Which is the most inspiring place for you? Nature or the web?

It’s a difficult one. I don’t go to nature often. I don’t hike, I don’t climb mountains, I don’t swim with dolphins. A few times a year I do go to nature and I really really enjoy it but I’m not an outdoor type. Internet is an everyday environment, so I spend more time online than in a forest. When I go to the zoo – zoos make me very sad, but sometimes I go – or when I go to real nature, some sort of wilderness and rural zones, I get however very very inspired.

How many hours do you spend a day researching on the internet?

It depends on the day, but at least 4-6 hours. I would even like to spend more time but since I have had this studio practice, where I make sculptures, it requires me to be there… so I am forced to spend more time in the real world. At the moment I am also working on a book which relates to the same subjects of the animal and nature. I’m trying to make a story out of it. It’s an art book. I’ve been trying to do it for the past year, but I’ve had many exhibitions, so it goes slow. The idea is that by May this year I would finish a new publication. It will be a bit similar to my first publication, in a sense that it will be a collection of art and non art, maybe works of more people than just me, a sort of editorial manual of my interests, very intuitive and subjective. I want to compress a lot inspiration into one place, which will help me to have an overview of my work, and also publish it into the world. Then I can move on. Also I want to experience new forms, as an e-book, a lecture and a video, or maybe an exhibition; all the contents which will be related to the book.

Are you planning to have some texts in the book, or just images?

Yes, I want to have texts too, not very long ones though. I need short statements. And I have already some ideas of whom I would like to have texts from. I also read a lot of articles myself and if I find a phrase that really interests me, I copy it. In the book there will be a lot of quotes, too. It’s more a picture book with words, than a word book with pictures.

Which is the quality that you prefer in an art dealer?

I’m not too experienced yet to have a set of opinion about this. I just think what I need is somebody who is really interested in the content of my work, somebody who is ready to invest in making new works. That’s actually rare. In the Netherlands most gallerists don’t like to invest in production because for some reason the culture here is that you get fundings from the state to make work and then the gallerists sell, which I don’t like.

Which is the quality that you prefer in a collector?

Just be a nice person. And I’d like to think that money doesn’t come from weapons and other evil things. But this is a difficult one…

Who is your favorite artist?

I don’t have big names from the previous generations that I’m obsessed with. My favorite artists are my peers, people from my same generation just because I can relate to what they are doing. When I was switching from being graphic designer to being an artist I was really into the work of Anne de Vries, Aids 3d, Kari Altmann, Isa Genzken, Amalia Ulman and Emily Jones and Iain Ball amongst many others. They are the ones who inspired me somehow. Then all art history is a source of inspiration, from Hyeronymus Bosch to Salvador Dalì. I grew up being always into ancient art.

Is there any color or shape that you really hate?

I hate white people with dreadlocks. I never thought this is a good look. I don’t hate the people, I just hate the look.

What makes an idea become an artwork?

It is a very interesting one. When I started to make artwork I didn’t know whether it was art or it wasn’t yet. I was making digital images, ideas of sculpture. I didn’t yet have a feeling whether it was already art. I think it wasn’t’ art, I was doing studies. As soon as I had a couple of exhibitions where I was listed as a an artist though, I got confident in this idea that what I was making was art. It’s somewhat contextual and a bit superficial, and more like a feeling than a specific condition.

Which is the novel that is better comparable to your idea of art?

I don’t read much novel nowadays. I mainly read non-fiction.

Which song or kind of music?

Pop music.

What would you have done if you hadn’t been a artist?

Probably a bad graphic designer.

Which is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?

Coffee and social media, coffee and Twitter. I get a lot of input from social media.

Do you like art fairs?

For two years in a row I went to frieze art fair and then to frieze master and I always enjoyed much more this latter. The contemporary one looks a bit disposable. It made me think that I don’t want my work to be trendy for three years. I want my work to be something in hundred years, in thousand years… it becomes a different question. It also made me think that I can’t be busy with depressing topics.

September 29, 2017