Smell of Life Print

Hi! I’m Simona, an artist, based in the Czech Republic All kinds of organic shapes, overlapping layers, repeating patterns and lots of pink are there to be found in my paintings. Sweet childhood moments expressed by ladybugs and polka dots contrast with dark and rather mysterious corners. I love experimenting with color combinations, made-up plant shapes and other various detail work within abstract sceneries. When observed close enough, deliberately forgotten areas reveal places I might have started something upon, and never came back to. Such spots of “imperfections” are alternated by highly elaborate hours-long detailed work. I am highly inspired by the colors of nature and their variations. In my creative process, I let myself be fully dragged into chaos where then I search for glimpses of meaning to follow. At the beginning, I step to an empty canvas holding a certain idea in mind, after that I open myself to the flow completely and without any limitation whatsoever. I work as quickly and intuitively as my thoughts and feelings come up. And as the painting progresses, I tend to slow down accordingly and focus on the final layers and finishing touches. The process itself is way more satisfactory for me than having the finished result. The piece is completed by reaching the high point of my inner fulfillment. I work on one painting at a time only. It becomes my object of obsession that I think of during the daytime and dream about at night. I hate switching from the rhythm of one painting to another, as I need to finish one first before starting a new one. My pieces are still interconnected though. There’s always a bit of something in each subsequent painting that had amused me in the previous one, alongside something completely new that had been discovered throughout the process. I have been drawn to art for all my life. After graduating from Political Science at Masaryk University in 2012, I used to work in the creative field of marketing and public relations for several years. I dove into serious art making together with my husband Jiří Vojtěšek, the architect. We’re creating minimalistic wall art made of concrete, which is being sold under our brand name of Litone. Gradually, I worked my way through watercolors to acrylics, which is my most used medium these days. My art is a lively combination of art brut, abstract expressionism and naive art.