10 Questions with Nastassia Bas

Nastassia Bas was born in 1987 in Minsk, Belarus. She graduated from the Belarusian State University as a Philologist of the Belarusian language and literature. In 2021, she moved to Lisbon, Portugal, and is a resident of Portugal since 2022.
She completed the summer courses in painting at ArCo - Centro de Arte e Comunicação Visual, in Lisbon, studying with the artist Anastasia Shimshilashvili.

In 2022 she took part in several exhibitions in Portugal, such as Art for Ukraine, at Unobvious.lab (Lisbon), Artists for Ukraine, at Oeiras Park (Lisbon), the Summer exhibition, at The Lux gallery. Centro Cultural Gil Vicente (Sardoal), and the charity exhibition Artists for Ukraine, at the Amoreiras shopping center in Lisbon.

nastassia.me | @art.stassia

ARTIST STATEMENT

Through her artistic practice, she tries to understand and feel the changes that happen to man and nature, how we interact, and how we influence each other. Through her personal experience and observations of the world around her - people, nature, the city, she finds relationships and points of contact between us. She is concerned about the search for a new interaction between man and nature, the search for harmony. She is trying to comprehend the world in which she is and of which she is a part through female images and feminine energy. The feminine paradigm of thinking is aimed at conservation, rapprochement, harmony, and balance, which is so similar to natural energy. She pays a lot of attention to her hair. Since the ancient Slavs long hair was considered a source of vitality and energy. Therefore, she has an association of hair with roots, branches through which juice flows, and vital energy.

Hydrangea, Oil on canvas, 89x116 cm, 2022 © Nastassia Bas

INTERVIEW

First of all, you graduated as a philologist of the Belarusian language and literature. When did you first decide to become an artist, and how did you start experimenting with art?

I think it has always been a part of me. I have loved to express myself in the form of art since my school years. But I can't imagine that this can be the thing for me. Society required a "normal" job. So, that's how I ended up in university studying philology.
After I graduated and got my diploma, I realized that I needed to give a real chance to the art in my life. My love of art took the form of digital photography. Photography gave me knowledge of different visual languages and that producing pictures is something that makes me happy. But I was limited by the boundaries of photography. I needed something more. So, after three years of exploration of the photography world, I've opened a new thing for me. I finally realized that painting is my world, my passion. I started taking courses and master classes and took personal lessons from the artist Anastasia Shimshilashvili. I've tried watercolors and classical pencil drawing. That was my long journey to oil painting.

What is your personal aim as an artist?

My goal as an artist is to inspire people and encourage viewers to think about the future, the relationship between humans and nature, and a new world where they can be strongly intertwined and metamorphoses will occur in the human body, which will lead to a new harmony.

Green, Oil on canvas, 40x60 cm, 2022 © Nastassia Bas

How did your practice evolve over the years? And how would you define yourself as an artist today?

For three years, I tried to draw with pencils, charcoal, and watercolors, but only oil and canvas gave me freedom in my work. I love oil and canvas as tools. I love this consistency of paints, the sound that the brush makes on canvas, and how oil paints mix. I decided that I am an artist painter.

Your work revolves around themes related to nature and what you experience in your everyday life. Where do you get inspiration for your work?

The theme of nature has been of interest to me for a long time. I have been observing nature since childhood. As a child, I spent a lot of time outdoors. My grandparents lived in the countryside, we visited them almost every weekend and all the holidays were also in the countryside.
Then, the topic of nature and the ecological catastrophe in Chernobyl was the topic of my thesis at the university. Belarusian writers paid a lot of attention to this topic.
Now I read articles, magazines, and books on ecology. The last book that I liked and inspired. - This is "Being Ecological" by Timothy Morton.
And, of course, now, living in Portugal, I observe and admire the beauty and power of nature. Nature in Portugal is beautiful! It inspires me with new ideas and images.

In your statement, you also quote your hair and the Slavic tradition around long hair. How does it influence your work?

The ancestors of the Slavs believed that energy and vitality are accumulated and stored in the hair. In my work, I show that hair can connect with the roots, branches, and leaves of plants. They can transmit some information, power, and energy in this way, like wires or like a network. There is an exchange of information. Maybe it is through hair that we will connect with nature, and it is in this way that metamorphoses with the human body begin.

What is your creative process like? And how did you evolve this way of working?

Creating a painting is a process. Most often, the image is born from what I have seen around me or what is happening in the world. Then I start thinking about what I saw. It takes a couple of weeks to "digest" the idea and imagine a form and set. I can make a sketch, and sometimes I can make notes in my diary and describe in words what I want to show on the canvas. And only then, did I begin to paint in oil on canvas.

What aspect of your work do you pay particular attention to?

The main aspect of my work is the idea, what I want to tell the audience. My visual language, oil, and canvas help me to make a statement out of it.

Do you like to experiment with new techniques, mediums, and materials, or do you tend to gravitate towards the same ones?

I love experimenting with new techniques and materials. At this stage of my creative journey, I work with oil paints and canvas with great pleasure. Maybe I'll start working with new materials, and maybe I'll use new techniques. Who knows? Time will tell.

Leaf, Oil on canvas, 60x40 cm, 2022 © Nastassia Bas

Sun, Mixed media, oil, canvas, golden leaves, 89x116 cm, 2022 © Nastassia Bas

You relocated from Belarus to Portugal. What do you think about the art community and market in Lisbon?

During the time that I lived in Lisbon, I met talented and interesting artists. I like the art community in Lisbon, people here are open and ready to cooperate. I can say for sure that it's completely different and I love it.

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

Shortly, I will continue to work and develop the theme of the relationship between man and nature, my new world where man and nature are closely intertwined. The place where metamorphoses take place both with man and with nature.
Interesting and inspiring, I also want to try to include neural networks like Midjourney in my work. It stirs up the imagination.

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