Tatiana Tret
Interview at Benrimon Contemporary Gallery.
Tatiana, when did you first become interested in art?
The first interest in art came when I studied in sixth grade. My parents gave me nine volumes of the children's encyclopedia and I found the "Art and painting" section to be most fascinating. After reading all about Renaissance painters such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael... I became obsessed with art for a long time.
At that time, I could not imagine myself as an artist.
I wanted to be close to these masterpieces and work as a tour guide in an art gallery or a museum, or become an art journalist. At home, I would put on my most beautiful dress, hang prints from the magazine called "Twinkle" on the walls and I told stories about the artists and their works to my imaginary audience. Sometimes it was a real audience-my younger brother and his pals, but usually, their attention did not last long.
Where did you study art?
I always loved to draw and in high school went to the art studio for a while. Then I took private lessons from a Moscow artist Natalia Bukkuri, attended the Moscow Fine Arts and Watercolor’s Academy of S.Andriaka, studied photography at the Academy of Photography. I liked the atmosphere of an art studio, the smell of paint, and, simultaneously, photography with its ability to instantly memorialize something interesting and unique.
In what technique works and how it came?
I was learning to draw; I was studying photography for years. Once in Venice, I was impressed by the work of Murano’s glassblowers and for a few years, I collected colored glass.
Murano glass is special - with air bubbles of various shades ... Italian glassmakers add gold or silver foil to the glass, oxides of non-ferrous metals, which change color when heated and provide a unique shimmering effect.
Once I thought: “It would be great to put all three of my passions into one”.
I implemented this idea in my series "Glass in Motion", and went on.
Everyone always looks for something unique - even if no one ever admits it.
And I am not an exception. One year ago I began to use 3-dimensional elements for my artworks. They are based around manipulated digital photographs of glass objects and stained glass, the images are then produced as unique aluminum relief sculpture.
How much does it take to create a picture?
The first – you need to have an Idea what to create. Sometimes It takes just a moment, other times it takes a lot longer. The second - you need to develop and realize the work as an actual picture. Often I work on several paintings at the same time, so it's impossible to say exactly how much time I spend on the artwork - perhaps 1-3 weeks, more, or less, - it always varies. Sometimes I go back to the ready work – I feel like I can improve something or change. The work can go on indefinitely until I decide for yourself that it's completed.
Why did you decide to use metal?
My art has evolved over the years. I worked with a different of materials, such as a Metallic photo paper, Canvas, Plexiglass… An experimental journey leads me to use new technologies that provide the brightness, color, and durability of my works. Aluminum is a perfect material. Now I can represent my paintings to the audience in the view I always wanted - bright, shining and in a fairly large size.
Why is abstract art?
I love abstraction, love to experiment with color. To me, It's like a game in which I involved and can’t stop...
When a color is in harmony with its shape, you can obtain amazing results.
Abstract art allows going beyond reality, to express yourself and your perception of the world.
What‘s inspired for you?
I am inspired by all beautiful and unusual. It can be music – for example, the German group "Gregorian" that imitates the singing of Gregorian monks, Klimt paintings; or beautiful landscapes.
What are your favorite artists?
I like the masters of the Renaissance;
I love Russian painting - the remarkable portraits of Kiprensky, Tropinin, Carl Brullov, the fabulous scenery by Julius Klever.
I like the series of artworks by Gustav Klimt in golden - brown colors - his "Kiss", "Three ages of women", etc.
I like the abstractions of Jackson Pollok and his unconventional approach to creativity. Since childhood, I love a painting of M.Churlonis, a Lithuanian painter, composer, and poet...
What do you want to say about your works?
Art is not just decor. It’s an object that influences our behavior, thinking, feeling…the way of life... My pictures are created to amaze, inspire and rejoice... to give people the good mood and positive energy!
Almost every my artwork is accompanied by a short story, as Leonardo da Vinci said: “ Painting is a poem that we see, and the poem is a painting that we hear”.
What is your favorite artwork?
"Smithereens of time", ”Apple of Desire”, “Sad Harlequin”… and I like my series “Sounds of Music”.
A few words about the project “Metavision”.
Since March 2014, I have been working on a project that I have called “Metavision”. This project provides a multimedia interaction between a viewer and 3D artworks. The project utilizes various electronic devices including iPhone/IPad, Droid devices, Google glass, etc.
The basis of the project is information media such as audio, video, text, sound or pictures which all become part of the viewer’s association with the artwork. “ Metavision” allows the viewer to take a journey through their imagination; to engage multiple senses as they explore visual and audio effects beyond the image they are encountering with their eyes.
What's the next project?
The projects "Glass in motion", “3D pictures” are always evolving as and a project “Metavision”. It would be interesting to put my pictures on a piece of fabric in clothing design.
What would you like people to see in your work?
Usually, people see different things in my pictures - all of us are different.
But if they want to know what I was thinking when creating my artworks they need to look at the titles and listen to the short descriptions of the pictures using QR Reader application on I-Phone... So they can explore and see more. I would like my works to be clear to the viewers.
What are the three main qualities, in your opinion, the artist should have?
To be able to see what others don’t see, to be able to present your artwork visually appealing and understandable, and to have your own style.
The value of teachers in the development of the artist.
Our teachers and mentors play a crucial role in developing an artist. They give us the basics of drawing and photography techniques. However, it’s only an initial period of life that comes and ends. And then we choose a development path for ourselves by making decisions: either to stay on the academic path or choose any other way to further beyond the basic foundation. And if we choose something special, we ourselves become masters.