International Artist Feature: Slovakia

Welcome back to our International Artist Series.

Today
we’re catching up with five incredible artists from Slovakia, a European country with beautiful landscapes and castles. I
asked each artist how
their country and culture influenced their work, and they delivered great
responses.

Ján Vajsábel

Ján is a brilliant mixed media artist based in Pezinok, Slovakia. His work features a unique geometric style, with vibrant scenes inspired by life and his family.

See more in his portfolio and follow him on Instagram.

Annual Report LIDL

Slovakia has very rich and diverse nature. The four seasons of the year
create breathtaking natural scenery that I
like to display in my oil paintings. Slovakia is mainly my homeland
where I have my family and my children, who also appear in my
illustrations.

Nescafe Azera

I am very inspired by artists such as ?udovít Fulla, Martin Benka, and Mikuláš
Galanda and they all lived in Slovakia. Their work influenced my personal drawing and
painting styles.

Joy of My Children

Annual Report LIDL

I am currently trying to be useful for the local artist community here. In Slovakia, we have
amazing artists, musicians, and actors and I like to work with them on
various cultural projects.

Kristína Kemenikova

Magical watercolor paintings are the medium of choice for this next artist, Kristína Kemenikova. Based in Lu?enec, Slovakia, she creates vibrant illustrations featuring natural greenhouse themes and adorable cats and characters.

See more in her portfolio and follow her on Instagram.

Greenhouse Cats

I was born in Slovakia. I lived abroad a few years but later on I came
back home. I grew up on this land and in some way it
formed my whole life. I love the nature and the changing seasons
which give me lots of inspiration for my artwork.

I also love the
traditional folk art community here. It has very deep roots on this land which has a lot to do with the architecture over here and is a big
topic in my work. I love also the old-styled buildings and towns
built before World War I. I feel like they carry lots of stories and
memories.

Floral Pattern

My work is influenced not only by the area but by the
culture. I often use a lot of my childhood memories in my artwork. Stories my grandparents told me as a little kid stayed in my memory and I
love to use them in my illustrations.

The
way people used to live here is very folk-styled, with lots of traditions
so people could live in harmony with
nature. Nowadays, the way of life has changed in so many ways but there are always people who remind us where our
roots come from.

Greenhouse Illustrations

Greenhouse Girl

I feel like there was a period of time just before I was born when art
was a bit shadowed by the authoritarianism. Before
the World Wars, art was a very prestigious topic with lots of creative
artists around.

It is great to say that, nowadays, the art community in Slovakia
keeps growing, and maybe in some ways it still doesn’t get as much
attention as it deserves. But there are a lot of talented artists over
here who do what they love and that’s the most important thing.

Lina Šuková

Next up is Lina, an extraordinary illustrator and animator based in Bratislava, Slovakia. Drawing inspiration from her wondrous natural surroundings, she creates exquisite illustrations that are both calming and inviting.

See more in her portfolio and follow her on Instagram.

Coffee February

I don’t know how attractive Slovakia is for people from other countries,
but for me, Slovakia is my home.

What I love the most is my family and
friends, of course, and the most inspiring part of Slovakia is the nature.
It is quite a small state and is very compact, so you have everything in
reach.

AUUUNA

I was studying graphic design in high school and then I went
to the academy on the other side of the state to study animation. Each
discipline influenced my work differently.

The classic graphic design techniques
have strong roots in Slovakia, but they’re slowly fading away so I’m glad
that I’ve got some techniques down like linocut or
dry-point. For me, the most inspiring Slovakian art is that
which draws from our history and cultural heritage, and gives it a new
life by connecting with fresh ideas.

Sketches

Coffee February

These days I only know about the animation community in Bratislava because I
was living there for six years as I worked and studied there. It isn’t very big so we all know
each other and it is very personal and family-like.

Animation also
has a strong background in Slovakia but there was a big empty gap during
socialism and we’re still recovering from that. Every year there are new
animation directors with beautiful visual styles and interesting
stories to tell, so I think there will be much more Slovak films in the world coming soon.

David Marcin

Comic artist and illustrator David Marcin is another incredible talent from Bratislava, Slovakia. His epic graphic style flies off the pages with stunning illustrations for editorials and graphic novels.

See more in his portfolio and follow him on Instagram.

Pomimo 4 Poster

Honestly, there are only a few things that I like about Slovakia, and that
is the honest kindness of people and their general helpfulness even if you are
a complete stranger.

Death Café

I think that I’ve always been influenced by foreign comics, movies and
pop culture. Mostly by US mainstream comics and B-movies. And I often use my surroundings as a reference for my illustrations and comics.

Currently, I live in Bratislava, so I use photo references of
Bratislava architecture and people on the streets. Architecture in
Bratislava is a bizarre combination of old and new with unique alleys
and buildings.

ProfilEpic

Slovak Crimes – Editorial

I studied art at my high school and art academy in Bratislava. But I think that our art
community is very isolated and small. I’m trying to focus more
on slowly growing the comics community.

Rudá Sova

Our final feature contains the amazing work of artist, Rudá Sova. Based in Bratislava, Slovakia, she creates intriguing collage art pieces made with traditional paint and paper.

See more in her portfolio.

Together We Are Here

Slovakia is a small
country with many beautiful places that are waiting to be explored. I
also like the nature, folk customs and traditions—especially our
dialects.

Collage on Canvas

I am from Eastern Slovakia where there are many
beautiful villages situated in forests and nature. But I usually focus on ”life by the sea”
as a main topic in my work.

Bez Odpovede

Dunaj

In my opinion, the art community in Slovakia is slowly growing. I used
to be a part of a great community during my studies at the Academy of
Fine Arts in Bratislava. ASIL is also a great platform for illustrators. It’s a group of young people who try to bring about good conditions for illustrators and artists here in Slovakia. I also like the many art festivals here that give opportunities
to young artists.

Many thanks to the artists who took the time to answer my
questions and share a bit about themselves and how their country and/or culture
has affected their work. You can check out more of their work in the links
below:

• Ján Vajsábel
• Lina Šuková
• David Marcin
• Kristína Kemenikova
• Rudá Sova

Love these features? Check out more from this series:

• 
  Global Influences
  International Artist Feature: Iran
  Melody Nieves

• 
  Global Influences
  International Artist Feature: Peru
  Melody Nieves