This is a short interview with Anita Bartos (57). You can learn more about our blog posts here.
Anita Bartos lives in Vienna, Austria. She is a professional art therapist and also active as an artist, creating mostly collages. Her works have been displayed i. a. at several exhibitions in Austria (Vienna City Hall, Austrian Museum of Folk Life and Folk Art, Hainburg Ragala Art Gallery), Czech Republic (Prague Gallery of Czech Glass), Slovakia (Bratislava City Museum). Below are her answers to the questions we have asked.
My path to art
The art and aesthetic perception have always been an integral part of my life. I am not a professional artist but I have always loved art. I have started creating my own artworks almost a decade ago. I see art as an independent and unrestrained means of emotional and social communication which has its own unique value. Through art, you convey something that you cannot, may not, or just subconsciously refuse to express verbally in the everyday communication.
Motifs and inspiration
I draw my inspiration from everyday situations. I convert my perception of a certain moment into shapes and colors. When I start creating I have no idea how the final result will look like. Rather, I start creating with an idea of specific colors. It feels as if the colors themselves would seek their way onto the white canvas while I am only their intermediary, listening to their message. I think the quality of the final work depends mainly on the feelings you have while working on it. A specific motif is not important. That’s why I never do made-to-order works. Instead, I try to offer a wide variety of artworks so that everyone can choose something they like.
Creating and mediums
I make mostly collages. We live in the era of remix: everything is being reproduced, picked over, attached and combined together. That’s why the collage with its simple principle of “copy and paste” represents the condition of the contemporary civilization. The art therapy has inspired me to make collages and broadened the horizons of my knowledge about the human soul and the art. When making collages, as well as artworks in general, what matters to me is the process itself, not the result. Through creating I transfer my experiences and feelings onto the canvas.
Art and your community
The art has a positive influence on me and in this way also on the people who surround me. Every single person is born as a talented artist, painting on their blank canvas. We were born just with clean, blank canvas, and the freedom to choose a way how we want to paint on them. Even though other people can influence and observe us, everyone still picks the colors and creates picture of their life. Every person, without exceptions, is creative. With different people, the creativity can manifest itself in different domains, but everyone possesses certain artistic abilities. I am glad that the Artpic project is mainly focused on promoting individual art and creativity, and not only on commercialization of the already established artists, unlike most of the contemporary art platforms.
Art therapy
The art therapy literally means “curing by art”. Art therapy is a part of psychology and psychotherapy. It uses drawing, painting, collage or sculpture, making it a means to cultivate and communicate those emotions, experiences, and relationships, which are otherwise difficult to express. For me, art therapy is a way to connect with yourself, your emotions and your feelings, using your creativity. It promotes the free self-expression without censorship, self-confidence to experiment, it creates space for deeper self-awareness and positively affects the mental and physiological aspects of people.
Difficulties and challenges
The greatest challenge for an artist who wants to be commercially successful is to be convincing and to know how to sell their artworks, evaluating the energy and the love put into them. With some artworks, it could mean 300 or 400 hours of invested time.
Ambitions and dreams for the future
To spread through art the beauty, the good and the love among the people.
Contact/website:
Artworks showcase:
