When did you first come into contact with art? Was there someone in your family who had an influence on you artistically?
I come from a small town in Moravia, and no one in my family was interested in art. When I was eighteen, I moved away from my parents to Brno and started hanging around the streets with strange friends. I lived in this dilapidated apartment; it was more like a squat, and that’s where the first art sessions took place. I was more interested in film, music, and literature than painting. Gradually, I found myself in painting. I started to study art teaching at Masaryk University in Brno. I studied drawing, realistic painting, still life, and all that boring stuff, until I came to the point that I hated teaching and wanted to make my own art. Anyway, after four years, I was kicked out of the university in Brno, and I moved to Prague and started to study at the Academy of Arts Architecture and Design at the Intermedia Studio.
Are there themes that appear repeatedly in your art? Why are these important to you?
My painting is just typical in its repetitiveness of motifs. There are constantly various deformed commercial characters taken from American cartoons, revolvers and bolts, factory environments, architectural plans, numbers, and equations; it’s just a continuous thought process that has no beginning or end and is basically typical of its non-linear plot. I would compare my painting to the exploitation film genre.
How are your past experiences reflected in your art today?
I think it was important for me to be part of a certain subculture; it really opened the gateway to art for me, and I basically draw from these experiences. Of course, the creation is modified and changed over time because of new perceptions and so on.
Which considerations do you use to start a new work of art?
My work is based on expressive abstract painting; I never think too much about how the work will look. Sometimes I’m just interested in drawing and sketching; sometimes I study colors and try to capture a particular situation and mental state gesturally. My work is dynamic and constantly changing and evolving, and I let it run free.
What influence do your dreams and subconscious have on your art?
A few years ago I was still living in my studio, living with my paints and paintings. It often happened that I woke up at night and had to go and paint; it wasn’t about specific motifs, but rather a dream developing certain themes.
What does your day in the studio look like? Could you describe the studio for us?
First of all, I’ll show off my new studio. It’s absolutely great; it’s a huge space, but it’s pleasantly warm, and the heating works normally. Haha, it’s a miracle in Prague studios. I have huge windows, and they are everywhere.
I have high ceilings, leather seats, and endless space. I feel really great there.
I’ve tried a huge number of studios. shared, small, large, with non-functioning heating, industrial spaces, apartments, basements, school studios, balconies, a half-techno club, a hostel, just everything. This studio is perfect.
My day in the studio is kind of normal; I basically only ever create when I have to create for a show. and that happens all the time, so I always work under stress, which is my base. then I start painting and drawing; quite often I go crazy; as soon as I lose any emotion, I get bored; I stop painting and go home. And the next day again, sometimes I feel like I go to work and create products; that was my bachelor thesis, by the way.
What do exhibitions mean to you? Do you enjoy them, or are you rather nervous about them?
The preparation for exhibitions is more stressful for me than the exhibitions. As soon as I finish the last painting, I am calm. At the opening, I just have wine, and I am at ease.
How do you balance your personal life with your work as an artist?
I’ve been a mother for half a year now; it’s honestly extremely demanding. I’ve approved several exhibitions for the jury during my pregnancy. I managed the pregnancy very well. I worked until the beginning of my ninth month. But now I have at least two meetings a week, I create new paintings every day, and I prepare for different exhibitions.
I want to be the best mom in the world. I have a wonderful daughter whom I love, and she is in the first place. So I’m currently choosing which shows I want to do and which ones I don’t.
What are you currently working on, and what exhibitions are you planning?
Currently I have had great shows in Prague and Bratislava. For next year, I have cancelled all but one show in the Czech Republic, and I am focusing on abroad. USA, Australia, Leipzig, and others.
Ester Parásková – www.instagram.com/paraskovaester/
