CREATIVE DOSSIER: Ukrainian Artist from the Netherlands — Tatiana An

Artist Tatiana An was born in Kyiv. Her paintings and graphic works are held in the Municipal Art Gallery of Mykonos (Greece), the Museum of Drawing in Skopje (Macedonia), the Museum of the History of Kyiv, as well as in private collections in Greece, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Germany, and Macedonia.

Tatiana An currently lives in the Netherlands. Huxley Almanac presents the Creative Dossier of the Ukrainian artist.

What is the first creative moment you remember in your life?

indergarten. I was four and a half years old when I saw our nanny naked in the outdoor shower. The impression was so strong that I drew her on a pristine white sheet of drawing paper lying on the teacher’s desk.
There was a terrible scandal. I waited in dread for my father to arrive, because they were going to “tell him everything about me.” Dad looked at the drawing and that very same day bought me a sketchbook and a set of colored pencils.

What are your creative ambitions?

My ambitions come down to having enough time to hear the singing star within myself. It is my “self,” but free from the admixture of fears and experience, connected to the cosmos or even to eternity. I am curious to see how this pure “Self” draws.

What are the vital steps toward bringing a creative idea to life?

Probably the most important thing is not to doubt that what you have conceived is within your abilities.

How do you start your day?

With exercises while lying down. I am still in bed, but already seem to be doing something useful.

What are your habits? What habitual patterns of behavior do you repeat?

I have one habit — changing my habits as soon as reality stops bringing me joy. And I begin first of all with those that make life more beautiful, such as a cup of coffee or a walk around the city.

When you take new routes, you meet different people and see new possibilities. Only by changing your daily habits can you break through into something new.

Describe your first successful creative act.

My first creative success came when I stopped being afraid of criticism. In exactly that order — first I stopped being afraid of criticism, and then came my first creative success.

What is your attitude toward money and work? 

I have been earning my own living since I was 15 (although I have relaxed a little over the past ten years). I am convinced that whether you go under or not is your own choice. In Greece, where I went to earn money in the 1990s, I knew teachers and journalists from the former Soviet republics who washed floors in tavernas and worked as caregivers.

There is nothing shameful about earning money for yourself and your family by unloading freight cars. It is far worse to live at your relatives’ expense.

And how do you feel about rivals and competition?

I am competitive by nature, and that says it all. Rivals are a reason to compete, but not a reason to bring them down.

I never speak badly of my colleagues. But a colleague’s success is a reason to strive to become better in the future than I am today.

Which artists do you admire most?

Van Gogh, David Hockney… I think that if Van Gogh had painted all his life the way he did in The Potato Eaters, he would never have become great.

People have enough pain in real life. They need beauty and the hope that such beauty is possible in their own lives as well. At some point, Van Gogh understood this, and his paintings began to fill with sunlit colors.

And Hockney shows that even familiar, well-worn subjects can be depicted in a fresh and unconventional way — that an ordinary country road can be painted so breathtakingly.

Is there someone in your life who constantly inspires you?

Yes. My daughter Alexandra. She is not easily impressed, and she will not lie, but she has an extraordinary gift — she inspires people to accomplish great things.

And also my only true teacher, my friend Zhanna Vasilevskaya. Many of my works have to pass her fierce scrutiny. She is my artistic council.

How do you react when you encounter a superior intellect or talent?

I admire it and learn from it.

How do you react when you encounter stupidity, hostility, intransigence, laziness, and indifference in other people?

I give the person a chance to show their better side. If that does not happen, I distance myself.

When you work, do you enjoy the process or the result more?

I truly enjoy the process. Sometimes I am even sorry to finish a piece.

At what moments do you feel that your desires exceed your abilities?

I don’t know… Probably when I’m doing squats.

But seriously, I feel absolutely helpless when I see impoverished elderly people on the streets. It is wrong. It should not be this way. The way a country treats its elderly says more than anything else about how the state is organized.

What would your ideal Ukraine look like?

Ukraine has every opportunity to become a place on Earth that people will travel to for inspiration.

It is a vast country with extraordinary natural riches — forests, mountains, rivers — and breathtaking, remarkable beauty.

So why do people strive to leave for other countries? Because in Ukraine, not enough attention is paid to people’s comfort. Is the food delicious? Yes. Is it beautiful? Yes. Is it comfortable? No! Not yet.

I hope this will change.

Highlights from Tatiana An’s professional dossier in recent years:

2016 — participation in the Osten Biennial in Skopje (shortlisted).
2017 — joint exhibition with K. Arutyunova at Theo Vozianov’s art space in Kyiv.
2018 — joint exhibition with Lyu Sienna at the main pavilion of Jardin d’Hiverre in Baarn, the Netherlands.
2018 — participation in the Osten Biennial in Skopje, Macedonia (shortlisted).
2019 — group exhibition “Self-Portrait with a Bouquet,” Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.
2020 — participation in the Osten Biennial in Skopje (shortlisted).
2020 — participation in the group exhibition “One Day After…” in Kyiv.
2020 — participation in the Third All-Ukrainian Art Festival of Contemporary Women’s Art (Ukrainian Contemporary Women’s Art Fest 2020) in Kyiv.
Contact information:
Tatiana An. tatianaan2020@gmail.com