Anastasia Gangal

You were born in Chisinau and grew up in a family connected to architecture and interior design. How did this environment shape your visual language as an artist?

From early childhood I have been surrounded by a lot of books in my parents house. Books about history of arts, music, philosophy, architecture and design, biography of famous painters, poetry and artistic literature that created interest and taste for art, builded like bricks the foundation for the future paintings and visual artworks. A series of my artworks have geometrical shapes that was influenced by architectural forms.

Anastasia Gangal | Mitochondria Rhytm | 2020

Your artistic path began with caricature-style characters and watercolor. What led you toward abstract painting?

Yes, indeed I was painting caricature of animals, mainly cats and rabbits in a cartoon style, also doing sculpture from polymer clay, handmade bags and wooden mirrors painted manually with acrylics, this was the early stage of my creation path, named under a brand name GangLiON. After several years of being passioned by film photography, I started experimenting with acrylics paints offering me total freedom of expression that has the abstract art. A more mature view and desire to create a state of emotion and feelings anda lot of freedom that abstraction gives, combined in this choice.

Anastasia Gangal | Spines And Roses | 2020

You describe abstract art as a journey into the hidden corners of the soul. What do you usually discover about yourself while painting?

I find on my canvas exteriorized my suppressed emotions and unexpressed feelings, as I am more introvert and usually closed and reserved emotionally in my daily life. The process of painting it’s like meditation that allows me to hear myself better and connects me to my innerself and gives me the feeling of peace and balance by expressing things that I did not know even myself that I had inside. It’s like a journey of self-discovery. I find inside a lot of unspoken words and feelings that find their place on my canvas dressed in colors and imprinted energy.

Anastasia Gangal | Illusion | 2020

Color plays a powerful role in your works – often bright, contrasting, and emotionally intense. How do you choose your color palette?

I usually choose 4-5 colors that will build my main color theme of the painting and I experiment during the painting process. I like to choose contrast bright palette with strong emotional note. I think they are reflecting my lion personality and the fire inside 🙂

Your paintings combine energy, movement, and expressive texture. Do you plan the composition in advance, or does it develop intuitively during the process?

I usually do not make plans for a painting, I decide in advance only the colour palette and than I trust the fully intuitive process that I really enjoy, this is where the magic begins and I never know the final result, it is a process that has it’s own flow and wisdom which I fully trust. I listen my favorite music when I paint, so the whole process has its own unique atmosphere, when I don’t like to be disturbed. In this moment, it’s my world where there is only me, music and the creative process. It is very energetic charged and I love it!

You have participated in exhibitions in Tokyo, Rome, and Chisinau, and you have also worked as a curator. How has curating influenced your own artistic practice?

Curatorial work offers a great opporrunity to connect with other artists and their works, with spaces, galleries, museums. These important art players enrich my vision as an artist, I am often inspired by other artists at the exhibitions and art events. It is very interesting to get to know them, to talk, to discover what inspires them and motivates for creation. This communication and exchange gives me another angle of the creation process that I may bring into my own practice as well.

What do you hope viewers will feel or experience when they stand in front of your paintings?

I would like them to stop first and take a deep slow breath and listen to their feelings, their inner state. I would like them to develop an attention and a curiousity for their own emotional palette inside. The paintings in fact are an invitation for a silent moment of introversion, autocontemplation and inner tune with the voice of their soul.