Suncica Perisin - Tomljanovic is a Croatian born young artist. She
recently graduated at St. Martin’s School of Art and Design in London.
Last month, the Croatian embassy exhibited some of her work.
CIL caught up with her there.

Tell us about the exhibition

This is the first large exhibition after graduation. There was an exhibition in Italy,
with a lot of installations, which got a lot of attention from the Italian art world.
Since then, this is the first solid set of work.

The works are portraits of people within the art industry. All can be recognised!

The portraits are large and almost reference Soviet process - monumental and sculptural. The materials used are rare, because I’ve discovered a paper in France which no one exports. It’s very dark wax brown paper, which is very light and yet it holds heavy colours, tar and enamel paints.
All the paints used are often used in functional situations - painting trains or covering roads. Here I use them to make fine art. It’s fairly exciting.

How are you inspired?

I am inspired by characters I meet. Every character who is beautiful and striking I want to paint. I can’t really choose, it happens when I meet them. It’s a reaction of the moment.
I travel a lot to art fairs, that’s a good context, you are surrounded by art. You know what not to do.

Are you trying to say anything through art?

I find, having been brought up in England, that British art of the last ten years was an aesthetic that was ugly and was supposed to touch something inside that was repulsive. I am going back to beauty, pure beautiful aesthetics. I work with colours, I invent combinations of colours which I find beautiful, they are not supposed to repulse or take you back to a conceptual point. These are understood on sight. There is no need of introduction to the works.

How has the art world responded to your work?

So far, really good. I am surprised because in the three places I have held
the works, people have said they have been to the last three shows and I
haven’t held that many!

How did the London exhibition come about?

Having helped at previous events (at the embassy) I knew everyone,
especially Flora Turner (Croatian cultural attaché) and she thought it was
time my work should be shown. So, after seeing my graduation exhibition
she offered me the show.

You are based in Italy?

I am based in Rome and London. And holidays in Split.

Do you hope to exhibit in Croatia?

I very much hope to exhibit in Croatia, seeing that it’s my roots.
Not just my roots, I am a Croat rather than anything else. I am looking forward to the opportunity for someone asking for a show. Despite the fact that I was not educated in Croatia, my work is very relevant to the contemporary scene - and I am a young, contemporary Croatian artist. It would only be right to go back home.

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