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ITA - ENG
DECEMBER 2022
Andrea Solaja is a Serbian artist based in Italy. Her works, exhibited in solo exhibitions nationwide, include painting and sculpture. Andrea describes her art as evolutionary, and in her works we can read the profound search for light and life, founding themes that return in her works. Furthermore, Solaja cites nature as intrinsic to his artistic research; in fact, in her pictorial compositions, natural pigments, oils and acrylics on canvas, paper or fabric are often used.
All images © courtesy of Andrea Solaja
SitoWeb:www.andreasolaja.com
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How did you start your artistic career? How did you approach this type of art?
I studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Nuremberg (Germany) and during this time I worked with different materials such as wood or steel. Later on I started to use paper as a material to create drafts for these wood and steel sculptures. So at the beginning paper was just helping me but I was so impressed by its appearance that I decided to use it more independently and that was the beginning of my paper sculptures.
How do you proceed technically when you work on your paper works?
The wonderful thing about paper is that it is possible to work with it in all different sizes. I create very small and monumental pieces and the technical process is quite contrasting. Small pieces grow sheet by sheet - they develop slowly. The monumental installations are more complicate. It is a deeply appreciatedchallenge to find the right balance between the material andthe supportingconstruction. I love the struggle solvingall technical requirements. This means there are a lot of things to do and to think offin advance and most important is the 3D model.This virtualplan helps me to understand all the details and to prepare the installation in its parts.
Why did you decide not to use color?
My work is about experiencing space and color is important for me. But I don´t work with paint, I try to use color more sublime via using the colors of the surrounding. Because white surfaces, such as paper, reflect light easily. Thus the sculpture has a mutual relationship with the environment – light, shadow and the reflection of colors are wonderful dialog in space!
Also in one of your interviews I have read about the importance of space in your works. Can you tell us about this aspect?
Everything is about space, internal and external and our behaviour towards it. Analysing our intuitive way of moving in space is very exciting to me. Sculpture can tell us spacial stories and this is what I love to do with my work, especially with the site-specific installations.
Is there a place you have worked on that has struck you in a particular way, that you feel has given you stronger feelings? A space in which you would like to return to exhibit?
Oh yes, last week for example I visited the Kunststation Sankt Peter in Cologne again, my exhibition was in 2009. Walking through the light again I was really thrilled and immediately I had a dream of a new installation. Quite often the places which have a very strong character and sometimes seem to be difficult are the most touching places. And I like to rethink places again and again particularly if I know it already and can use my experiences.
The emotional charge that your works enclose and instill in the viewer is evident. What are the sensations you want to communicate? Do you feel that there is a common message among your works?
We all have an enormous knowledge of using space, it is our 6th sense the precondition to move in space. Mostly we don't pay attention to it, but it is an important point which includes a very emotional structure in ourselves. My work enables an access to this inner feeling of space and for me it is like being relieved and to breath easily.
In this period you have the exhibition We are talking about the space between us all in progress, can you talk about the project behind this idea?
When choosing the title of the exhibition I started to work more on the idea that most of the time we are sharing space with different people. For me it is exciting to investigate our common spatial behaviour. How things are changing and how we switch our point of view when we are alone or in community... a really vast field opens up... and this will be important for future projects as well.
How do you think your art will evolve in the future? Do you have any ideas in mind that you would like to explore?
During the lockdown I started to work on a new series of small scale pieces. They are very solid and in a way they could be also seen as models for monumental installations. They support the idea to change the point of view especially in times we all had to stay home.
I'm excited about the idea that a change of perspective can also simply take place in our imagination. Let's imagine we were very small... again we can experience space differently and that makes us move.