interview THE POSTER CLUB x ANASTASIA BENKO

1: Firstly, tell us a bit about yourself and where you live now, what you have worked with earlier and what your aspirations are.

I was born and raised in rural Ukraine, spend some time in the USA and now live and work in Germany. 

I believe that growing up in the Soviet era - a world where austerity wasn’t just an ornament - sparked my fascination with the transformational power of art. Living in a utilitarian universe inspired me to view art as a constant exercise to keep an open heart and mind to find beauty in the mundane.

Luckily I was surrounded by a very loving family who supported my artistic avenues from the early age of 3. 

Now I understand why I am unafraid to bridge so many disciplines like drawing, painting and photography with my work. Art allows me to return to the one and only motivator that has been on my personal and professional agenda for the previous decades:

I will never stop sharing, showing and creating a reality and work that is brighter than the past.

If I had a wish for the future, it would be to build a foundation for young Ukrainian artists, to give them the opportunity and confidence to fulfil their artistic visions and ambitions

2: What have you been working on lately?

With the help of a growing team I am working on national and international exhibitions that include fine art photography and large scale paintings. 

3: Which materials do you work with?

My palette and use of materials is very versatile but one of the most important tools for an artist is the ability to transform abstract visions into reality. As soon as I understood this as my daily task, the materials became secondary and the immediate goal automatically elevated into a courageous expression within many disciplines.

Exclusively for The Poster Club I created a series of sketches. A few charcoal strokes divide a flat expanse of paper that seem to illustrate life’s fragility in the most vulnerable form. Simultaneously their strong lines have the energy to create meaning out of void: it’s up to you to fill this crack in space and time with meaning. 

4: Can you tell us more about your creative process? Potentially from idea to finished work?

My days never look the same, when I work in my studio it’s always close to a meditative process. 

Experiencing art to me is always an experiment in adopting perspectives: I love to strip down motives from their concreteness and create abstractions. Every ambiguous appearance redirects the viewers attention and changes the perspective.

When pieces are poised between two dimensions, figuration and abstraction create a mysterious narrative. If you slow down and take a good look, abstract art mirrors a familiarity.

The voice a piece of art is echoing might be yours, so pay close attention. 

5: What is a recurring motif in your artworks?

All my artistic expressions have one common denominator - to carve out and illustrate a hopeful path that fills up our lives with hopes, dreams and a sense of wonder we were all born with.

6: What is a recurring source of inspiration?

One recurring source of inspiration over the past years has been the feedback of my clients! Oftentimes clients don’t contact me before buying a work of art. It’s only weeks or even months later that they get back to me and share super personal, even cathartic moments they had when living with my art. 

These unifying collective moments show me that collecting art won’t give you what you need. It will give you who you are! 

7: What is your relationship with colours? And how do you use them in your work?

I love to create a multidimensional depth with paint. Most of my paintings are very colorful where a complex wet-on-wet technique creates an energizing aura. Throughout the day, the luminosity shifts from being delicate to becoming a vibrant force.

8: Where do you work? (Home, atelier, shared studio etc.)

I live and work in Dortmund, Germany, in a 1960’s bungalow, with my studios attached to it. A year ago I had to downsize because parts of my Ukrainian family moved in with us. They now live in the area that used to be my daylight studio. Biographical events have always been inevitably intertwined with my journey as an artist. In life we are all faced with challenging episodes, but art has always had the superpower to nurture my soul. And even now, with moving studios to my basement feels like returning to my roots and finding a new daily routine feels comforting to do even more quiet, humble work.