Polina Gasparovica

Your background combines academic art history and hands-on painting practice. How do these two dimensions of your work inform and challenge each other?

I started painting with oils during my first year of bachelor’s, and I started by copying artworks of famous painters, like Vincent van Gogh, Jan van Eyck, Gustav Klimt, John Singer Sargent, etc. All these copies that I made are still in my room and often remind me of how much I learned as an artist from copying them. I enjoyed connecting my artistic practice with an academic one. I would feel particularly inspired when, after copying a painting, I could later write a research paper on the same painting for a university assignment. This way, I could study it in depth from a visual perspective as an artist and from a theoretical perspective as an art historian. Even drawing a small sketch of a painting makes you study it very carefully and pay attention to details that otherwise could be overlooked.

You mention a strong engagement with the Renaissance, the Dutch Golden Age, Art Nouveau, and Impressionism. In what ways do these periods manifest in your current paintings?

In general, these movements inspire me a lot. Art Nouveau always intrigued me with its flower and nature motifs. I studied Impressionist painters a lot, both as part of my university program and out of personal interest. I think many of my paintings have an Impressionistic touch.

Dutch Golden Age still-life paintings give me a very special feeling of calmness. It feels like the whole world is put on pause, and you can endlessly trace the details of flowers, fruits, and other objects. For example, Adriaen Coorte’s “Still Life with Wild Strawberries” is one that I especially prefer and, by the way, also made a copy of. I think I would like my paintings to give the same feeling of calmness to the viewer.

Polina Gasparovica | Arch of Hadrian | 2025

Your works often depict quiet moments – a winter forest, a birdhouse, an animal portrait, architectural fragments. What draws you to these seemingly simple subjects?

These are often painted using my own pictures as a reference, and they not only represent the object that is depicted but also capture the moment when it happened. I have certain memories associated with these moments, and this way I can remember them. 

It is also a reminder for me to look for beauty in nature and in surrounding objects, as well as to appreciate what I have. For example, I love spending time in my family’s summer house, so I did two paintings dedicated to this place. Also, it is a reminder to find happiness in simple, small moments.

Polina Gasparovica | Arctic Fox Jumping | 2025

As an art historian trained in archival research, do you approach your own paintings as documents of observation, memory, or atmosphere?

I think it is a combination of all of them. My paintings are documents of memory, as I usually associate certain moments and events with them. They are documents of observation, because I like to find beauty in ordinary moments and depict them in my paintings. Even something small that could have been easily overlooked. They are also documents of atmosphere, and I seek a calm and kind atmosphere in my latest paintings.

Polina Gasparovica | Birch Trees | 2024

The natural world plays a significant role in your work – from birch forests to wildlife. How do you balance realism with painterly interpretation in these scenes?

I seek the balance of paintings looking realistic but also with a hint of dreamy and fairy tale atmosphere. Some paintings are painted rather impressionistically, while others I spent hours on, working through every detail. I am always imagining the feeling that I want a painting to give and I aim to express it.

Polina Gasparovica | Mr.Hare | 2025

What role does attentive observation play in your creative process? Do you paint primarily from life, photographs, or imagination?

Primarily, I paint from my own photographs. My phone gallery is filled with pictures of places, nature, and interesting details, which all potentially could be turned into paintings. Often, I just see something and immediately think of it as a painting, so I take a picture.  Sometimes I start painting the next day, sometimes it takes a year for me to find a photo again, to be impressed by its beauty, and get an urge to create and turn it into a painting.

Speaking about attentive observation, I often like to look at the light and the shadows in daily life situations and try to think about how I would paint them. For example, I can look at the light going through the leaves of a tree or the light reflecting on the snow and study the colors carefully, thinking about how I would turn it into a painting.

Polina Gasparovica | Birdhouse | 2024

As someone deeply engaged with art history, how do you avoid becoming overly influenced by the past while still honoring it?

I honor the art of the past deeply, and I think it can teach me a lot, both as an artist and an art historian. At the same time, I aim to create something that is my own and represents who I am.