Meet the Artist / Polona Petek
Meet the artist / Polona Petek
Who are you and what do you do?
I am a painter, mainly painting and doing paintings.
Describe your work in three words / adjectives.
My work is contemplation, visualization of emotions, patterns of life.
Best advice on the art world you've received?
The best advice is to discover the richness of colors, because you see more and more of them over the years.
Artwork / author / music / movie that has been your favorite lately?
A lot of things excite me, e.g. paintings by canadian artists, Alt-J magic music, ...
What do you fear when you create?
Creation is a connection to the universe, there is no room for fear.
What creation tool would I not be able to live without?
I couldn’t live without pigments.
What do you consider to be the biggest success of your artistic career so far?
Biggest success to date: An elderly lady bought the painting and said she was convinced by the colors..
How do you view the positive or negative critique of your creation?
I can’t wait for the real criticism, let’s stop with these platitudes. However, I once read somewhere: "If you do not accept negative criticism, you are not worthy of positive criticism." However, it is also true that both are equally valuable and important, but only when constructive criticism comes from the established, amateurs and experts.
Name an artist that you would like to be compared to.
I wouldn't like that! Because I remember the feeling when they first compared me, a few times even, to Cindy Sherman. The first time I didn't even know who she is. It wasn't nice. Not because of her. I do not know. The feeling was uncomfortably strange and foreign.
How did the pandemic mark your work?
Pandemic, there was a premature calm.
The relay question of the artist Nataša Berk:
What would your autobiography be called?
Stories of shapes and colors.
Polon Petek was born in 1970 in Freiburg in Breisgau, she attended II. Gymnasium Maribor. In 1994 she graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana (Prof. J. Bernik, Prof. Dr. T. Brejc) and in 2009 she completed a master's degree in painting (Prof. Dr. N. Zgonik, Prof. M. Krašovec) and drawing. G. Gnamuš), with the work “The Relationship Between the Subject and Space in Painting and Photography as a Reflection of the Changed Role of the Subject in Modern Society”. She worked as a self-employed person in culture for more than ten years and then suspended her status for a few years due to moving to Salzburg (Austria). After returning to Slovenia, she rejoined DLUM Maribor, where she took over the chairmanship of the DLUM Art Council in 2019, and is also in charge of accepting new members. Since 2019, together with the charity in the municipality of Starše, she has been organizing a painting colony of artists - academics.
