![]() Q: Which artists and styles are your biggest influences?ĪP: I grew up in Eastern Europe surrounded by Soviet propaganda posters so that certainly shaped my taste to some extent. Most of my influences are European and Soviet/Russian artists: Ilya Repin, Vladimir Makovsky, Valentin Serov.įrom the contemporary, living artists, Jenny Saville for her painting style She’s one of the most talented and creative contemporary painters and I respect her for the mastery of craft and technical aspects of her painting. Q: It’s often said about your work that you “humanize machines”. Was that intentional?ĪP: Oh yes! That is the premise of my work. ![]() You see I was trained as a portrait painter. They are very connected – I might even say that machines represent the best of humanity: every time man wants to do something great he builds a machine! Machine is nothing else than an extension of the human mind, human ideas made real. I see the role of an artist as a compass, a DJ re-mix the Old and New, perhaps an oracle for what the future might bring. I like using the old medium (oil painting) to tell the story of innovation – it’s that contrast, dissonance of old and new, jazz of different ideas that excites me. When we look at the history of art, portraiture is the most reoccurring theme: portraiture was reserved first for Gods, then Aristocracy, then the common men. This is a new century: the century of technology and painting human portraiture is too archaic it’s the Machine that holds the reins of power today. Q: Your latest tech-themed series is titled #disrupt. What is its message?ĪP: Technology is disrupting industry, culture and our way of living. There’s growing anxiety in times of sweeping changes like today. ![]() In times like these, humanity is looking for answers about the future by learning from the lessons of the past. Europeans study the ruins of their predecessors, ancient Greece and Rome to see historic patterns and perhaps avoid making the same mistakes or find comfort.įor me, in America, built on Industry and technology, derelict machine or an old factory is the equivalent of that culture. ![]() Q: Have you succeeded in your efforts to establish greater patronage for San Francisco’s cultural institutions from the barons of Silicon Valley?ĪP: Let me start by saying that telling a story about American technology is a calling for me, a service to America, not just a career. My attitudes and expectations are always grounded in that. Having a strong career is necessary to tell that story, but it helps to avoid entitlement trap that would be so easy to fall into. let’s be honest: being an artist, a female artist in Silicon Valley is not easy. We are talking about selling art made by an eastern-European woman in a place that Emily Chang called Brotopia. ![]()
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