"Oj, Moravo, ..." Painting

I started with photography before I could afford film. So I began drawing what I wished I could photograph. That's how painting found me — through what I already saw. I paint cities to know myself better. Not to document them — but to listen to them. Belgrade, Prague, Venice are not destinations. They are mirrors.

I work in pure watercolor because it doesn't forgive and doesn't hide. Every brushstroke stays. The paper breathes through the paint. What is left unpainted speaks as loudly as what is there. In that vulnerability of the technique lives the only honesty I know how to offer.

The colors and light in my work come from a feeling of safety — they take me back to childhood, to play. I am still learning to paint, and I hope that learning never ends. I want the people who look at my work to feel invited into that same game.

I have no need to prove myself or be seen. And yet I paint in public, surrounded by strangers, doing my most intimate work in the middle of a city square. Someone always stops. Someone always asks. Now I understand why: there are no invulnerable people. Only those who pretend.

I paint to be human. Imperfect and somewhat sensitive.

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## Na srpskom

*Slikam gradove da bih bolje upoznao sebe. Ne da ih dokumentujem — nego da ih slušam. Beograd, Prag, Venecija nisu destinacije. To su ogledala.*

*Radim u čistom akvarelu jer ne prašta i ne skriva. Svaki potez ostaje. Papir diše kroz boju. Ono što nije naslikano govori jednako glasno kao ono što jeste. U toj ranjivosti tehnike leži jedina iskrenost koju znam da ponudim.*

*Boje i svetlost u mom radu dolaze iz osećaja sigurnosti — vraćaju me u detinjstvo, u igru. Još uvek učim da slikam, i nadam se da to učenje nikad ne prestane. Želim da ljudi koji gledaju moje radove osete da su pozvani u tu istu igru.*

*Nemam potrebu da se eksponujem ili dokazujem. I ipak — slikam napolju, okružen strancima, obavljam najintimniji posao nasred gradskog trga. Uvek neko stane. Uvek neko pita. Sad razumem zašto: ne postoje neranjivi ljudi. Samo oni koji se pretvaraju.*

*Slikam da bih bio čovek. Nesavršen i delimično osetljiv.*

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