10 Questions with Brigit Kovax

Brigit is a Hungarian-born painter living and working in London, UK. She completed her MA degree as a painter at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts in 2017. She is interested in universal themes that reflect on life events and experiences for instance cycle of life, human completeness and many more.

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ARTIST STATEMENT

Brigit is a Hungarian-born painter living and working in London, UK. She completed her MA degree as a painter at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts in 2017. Brigit usually works on a series of abstract paintings to reflect on different aspects of a theme. For instance, the series of ‘circles in colours’ was created in 2018 with the artistic intention of focusing on human completeness and integrity. It reflects on strong emotions such as feeling sad, amused, isolated, breathless etc. that we all experience as human beings from time to time regardless of gender, race or any other features.

Gauguin’s ‘Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?’ painting made the artist wonder about how she would answer these questions in her paintings about life. She was diagnosed with an incurable autoimmune disease in 2012 that changed her and her life from a young age. This has never been the main theme of her artworks, but it has definitely fueled her thinking, research, and interests since the diagnosis. Creative expression and painting helped her to understand and express difficult emotions at times and her changing perception of life, such as questioning the values and qualities.

Brigit forms universal themes to cover more than one answer to a question or aspect of a topic. She already visited the themes of the light within, human completeness, and more. Recently, the theme of the cycle of life and mortality became her interest to focus on her current series.

INTERVIEW

First of all, tell us a little more about your background, and how did you begin making art?

I initially studied Hungarian folk art and ceramics in college. During this time, I signed up for academic painting and drawing courses where I spent most of my free time. After this preparation and experience, I studied fine arts, more precisely painting at master's level at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts, where I have been evolving my art through several phases. Studying art history as part of the course influenced my creative thinking and my art-making and opened my perspective.

You studied both painting and psychotherapy. How does this influence your work as an artist? 

As an artist, I depict what I resonate with as a person, a human being, or the manifestation of a period of my personal life or a translation, interpretation of my understanding and conclusion of certain events that happened to me. Thus, I don't feel any interaction or direct influence between the two professions. Furthermore, these are fairly different in practical terms.

Can you tell us about the process of creating your work? What aspect of your work do you pay particular attention to? 

My focus is mostly on the process of creating and forming the project, bringing it to life step by step, rather than the final result. Though, I respect that the process of painting is an ever-changing dynamic.
I usually work on a series of paintings to explore the questions that I am interested in at the time. In this sense, I focus on more universal themes that derive from life experiences, relationships, and in general, from my interpretation of life. I am interested in universal themes that may affect all of us with no exclusion, such as going through changes, experiencing different emotions, facing mortality, just to name a few. I believe that my paintings are pieces of a creative journal reporting aspects of a journey throughout a colourful life in an abstract reality.

Your works are abstract compositions. What messages are you trying to convey with your art?  

Some of them convey colourfulness, some send messages of calmness, some questions. Some of them are for him, and some are for her. Another bunch is for them. Some don't say a word. Some of them are just quiet. I like to believe that some of them offer a quiet space and relief from everyday life from time to time.

Color seems to have a particular meaning for your work, especially the color yellow that often recurs in your painting. Can you tell us more about it? 

Colour is more like a manifestation of abstract thoughts and ideas in my paintings. For instance, I find yellow hopeful, lively and promising. Something that I wished for when I was in a bad place. I suppose it's because I associate yellow with the sun and its nurturing and healing energy. I also find its rhythmic movement of rise and set inspiring, this circulation of ups and downs. It makes me ponder. 

Also, standing next to a 1.5 x 1.5 meter cadmium yellow-based canvas in my studio did have an effect on me. I made cold yellow as well as warm yellow paintings. And then, I began to depict the light within my yellow paintings. It was a challenge to paint light in something already bright. However, this idea led me to cogitate about the necessity of darkness to see the lightness. All this may sound like a simple idea, but it was an important one at least for me as a process.

Colours play a significant part of my artistic work. Interestingly, after launching my yellow series, I started to use paints that I mixed from pigments along premixed paints. I wanted the colour to have a body, to be thick or other times, I wanted my yellow to be warm and convey hope for the viewer or make it light and creamy to surround and hold another colour. So, I used my own mixed yellow colour for some of those paintings. This process developed and in the 'Colours in circles' series the yellows are all mixed for a purpose.

Where do you find inspiration for your work?

This can be anything under the stars and beyond. 
When I was about to create abstract paintings back in 2013, I found abstract expressionism, firstly Jackson Pollock, later Mark Rothko and then Agnes Martin inspiring. For other reasons, I also felt a strong connection to Frida Kahlo's outlook and approach to art-making and Hilma af Klint's story and paintings. Although, I admit that this list can be modified as I change and my interest evolves.
My inner inspiration, however, comes from experiencing life. It can be anything such as situations, environment, nature, relationships, stories and several more. It can be but doesn't necessarily have to be exciting; it can be an everyday thing or even something usually regarded as boring. Sometimes this might be embodied in as little as making origami boats to feel that I gained some control back during a challenging period, and other times scratches about the beginning of a friendship. These usually lead to mental images where the abstract forms become alive. Then, I translate these into colours, abstract form, and a series of paintings. In this way, the canvas offers a different reality, an additional layer to my life.

What are you working on now, and what are your plans for the future? Anything exciting you can tell us about? 

Currently, my focus is the theme of the cycle of life and the acceptance of our mortality, focusing on the 'coincidences' that occur in life that we cannot control or avoid. This project is backed up with ancient Greek myths.

Have you ever thought about turning to NFTs? What are your thoughts on this subject? 

I like to be up to date and to have an open mind to the latest trends. I also like technology. It also seems that it will be indispensable to be present sooner or later in the NFT segment. It could offer a new channel and more convenient way to be present in the art world. Apparently, it leads to more international and intergenerational exposure for artists along with more diversified income sources. 

What do you wish to accomplish this year, both in terms of career goals and personal life? 

I intend to start the aforementioned new series of paintings about the cycle of life backed up with Greek myths. Alongside, I am planning to move to a more spacious studio in London. It would also be great to be able to arrange a solo exhibition in the UK and participate in exhibitions in Asia as much as possible. 

Finally, share something you would like the world to know about you?

I've already been forming the theme of my next series of paintings. I will kick off the research right after the recent one is finished.