Anna Kurkova won the Oil Award in Jackson’s Painting Prize 2023 with her work Three Magi. In this interview, she discusses adapting her materials for the heat of the Middle East, making paint glow from the inside, and never overworking a painting.
Above image: Anna Kurkova in her studio
Three Magi, 2022
Anna Kurkova
Oil on paper, 152 x 101 cm | 59.8 x 39.7 in
Artist Interview with Anna Kurkova
Josephine: Could you tell us about your artistic background? How did you become an artist?
Anna: My childhood had a backdrop of a small town in a marshy part of Belarus. The colour palette of both sky and land can be monochrome grey for much of the year. Books became a real window to other exciting places growing up. I remember getting this beautiful large volume with a catalogue of Old Masters for Christmas when I was around nine years old. I stared at the detailed illustrations for hours – it was my first introduction to the history of art.
Formal training started early – I attended a Soviet style drawing academy as a child that celebrated technical skill but espoused a rigid orthodox vision of what constitutes a worthy painting and what qualifies as art. Later on, I moved away, won a full scholarship and majored in Visual Arts at New York University Abu Dhabi in the Middle East, under the mentorship of American painter John Torreano. Time to make work, receive constructive criticism, and learn from working artists was invaluable in feeding my curiosity and setting my professional trajectory as creative and a maker. Early on took a very special class with the former Director of the MET Philippe de Montebello where us students got to go behind the scenes of many major NYC museums – that experience got me thinking about the lives of art beyond the studio and onwards as collection items, historical witnesses, decorative objects, and even slowly decaying bundles piled up in storages.
As I pursued a Masters in Art History and Museum Studies I noticed it informing my studio practice through exposure to new artists and relevant discourses in contemporary art. As an independent studio artist today, I can feel the way past experiences as a cultural outsider and perpetual student shape aspects of my practice, put visual storytelling through art in the dimensional same plane as written and spoken language.
Jacob, 2022
Anna Kurkova
Oil on wood panel, 32 x 22 cm | 12.5 x 8.6 in
Josephine: Your painting technique in Three Magi is unique and highly effective. Can you talk us through your process?
Anna: Working on large scale paintings activated the whole body, not just the wrist or the shoulder – it is a big physical process, especially since I like to work quickly. Three Magi came about as a playful colour study. I have been experimenting for some weeks with layering ink washes and blotches of oil paint and medium on oil paper. I was looking to the fantastical paintings by a French artist Clair Tabouret for technical inspiration and at archival photos of people moving, engaged in athletic activities as a reference for composition. The marriage of transparencies that ink creates and mute opaque blocks of oil colour disrupt two dimensionality of paper and make it glow from the inside – I am enjoying the collision of transparencies and textures that this approach generates.
Last Time I Checked The Forecast it Said Light Showers, 2023
Anna Kurkova
Oil on panel, 40 x 30 cm | 15.7 x 11.8 in
Josephine: Do you work from life, memory, or photographs? Or a combination?
Anna: I work from both memory, imagination and photographs. Photographs are useful for establishing initial references and staying faithful to dimensions and anatomy but I am careful to add sinuousness to the line that comes from memory and imagination, lest the outcome be too dull. Working from life is a real treat– I do it whenever I can too!
Works on paper drying in the studio: Witch 1 and Witch 2, 2022
Anna Kurkova
Oil on paper, 180 x 55 cm | 70.8 x 21.6 in
Josephine: Which historical or contemporary artists have influenced you the most?
Anna: I am a big fan of contemporary artists Claire Tabouret for treatment of human form, Inka Essenhigh for medium innovation in painting, and Tarek Al Ghoussein for his empathetic approach to landscape photography. I saw the Hilma af Klint and Piet Mondrian show at the TATE this summer and I loved seeing Hilma’s series bigger than life paper drawings all in one room – it did feel a little like a story of creation the way she envisioned it. Impressionists have a special place in my heart – Bonnard’s and Monet’s mark making moves me every time I see their work in person.
Kupala, 2023
Anna Kurkova
Oil on panel, 30 x 22 cm | 11.8 x 8.6 in
Josephine: What is your relationship with colour and how do you decide on the colour palette of a painting?
Anna: For me colour is a playground but is also something to be taken seriously – like a beautiful game with strict rules. I swear by creating thumbnails and colour studies with watercolour and chalk pencils, sometimes dozens, before moving to a large piece.
Colour palette development
Josephine: A lot of your paintings, including Three Magi, are oil on paper. Is paper your preferred surface, and if so, why?
Anna: I enjoy soft smooth surface of paper – it is harder to achieve the same finish on canvas. I keep rolls of paper in my studio and it allows me to scale up projects with relative ease. However, I think I like cradled wooden board even more – I prime them and place pigments directly on the surface, sometimes sanding and erasing in the process to reveal wood grain. I have recently learned to make my own in the woodshop with various saws and sanders and have been making panels with funky irregular shapes like hexagon and then using those to mount paper.
Nativity and Tomorrow’s Love, 2023
Anna Kurkova
Oil on wood panel
Josephine: What materials or tools could you not live without?
Anna: Since I am based in the Middle East and the sun is unforgiving here, I think about the longevity of works, therefore a quality Krylon Archival UV Varnish is my go-to, as well as Jacquard’s Dolarand Wax for sealing paper surfaces. Of course, a quality set of high precision brushes, good smooth heavyweight paper like Arches 88, and access to wood shop and studio are key. I am not picky with oil paint and use most brands alongside Liquin. From water-based mediums I swear by Winsor & Newton Designer Gouache for monotypes since the colours and lightfastness are brilliant.
Colour palette and tools
Josephine: How long does a painting take, or does it depend on the subject? Do you work on multiple paintings at once?
Anna: It depends on the project and the medium. I enjoy a fast-paced studio rhythm that helps to keep overthinking and doubt at bay and promotes generative atmosphere. But for some mediums, like monotypes, screen-prints and wood projects multiple steps can stretch over days and weeks.
Anna in the studio mapping out a large canvas painting
Josephine: How do you know when a painting is finished?
Anna: I aim to keep lines, strokes and shapes loose and never overwork a painting. This philosophy means that I let go of a painting as soon as I have an inkling that it is starting to come together and rarely go back for corrections. If a painting is a flop, I would rather make a new work than attempt to rework a frustrating piece.
Anna with her work at Bankside
Josephine: How was your experience taking part in Jackson’s Painting Prize’s first independent large-scale exhibition at Bankside Gallery?
Anna: My experience with Jackson’s Painting Prize has been exciting and warm – the Jackson’s team have been kind and responsive and at every stage from application, to selection, to exhibition. It was privilege to be a part of the exhibition at Bankside Gallery where so many fantastic creatives came together for the final show.
Further Reading
Preparatory Drawing Methods for Painting
How to Resolve a Landscape Painting Composition
A Guide to Oil Painting Mediums
Tips for Setting up an Oil Painting Palette
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