Artist Viktoria SG stops by on Close-Up Culture to discuss making art with Multiple Sclerosis, discovering her unique style, finding inspiration, and much more.
Can you tell us about your background and what led to your interest in art?
I started to create in 2015 as Viktoria SG. Before I was never interested in art, but my husband is a private art advisor and he gave me that love and knowledge. He taught me how to understand and appreciate art. Then I got into big trouble with my health – Multiple Sclerosis.
I once lost my vision for a few weeks. It was radical change in my life. But it awoke a desire to use my eyes more and to create something useful until my vision goes again. I had so much passion to learn how to paint that I spent days and nights watching online videos and practicing non-stop.
Can you tell us about your evolution as an artist and how you discovered your current style?
In my work, I constantly try to reach a perfection and awake a desire in those who view my paintings.
I had a period when something was forbidden to me or unreachable, and I was creating it in my paintings. For example, a beautiful woman’s body with a backdrop of wonderful water, which I could not have because of my disease. I was basically living inside while creating the pictures.
Or there was a time I couldn’t have sugar or alcohol, so I painted a series of different types of candies in champagne and martini glasses. Creating it helped me a lot to go through the tough times and to progress my art skills.
What is the greatest challenge you’ve faced as an artist?
I have realised that my comfort zone in childhood was spending time playing with stuffed toys and Barbie. I was giving them a personality, characters, they could be kind or mean, mostly based on people I had met in real life. It was like meditation – a way of abstracting and dealing with reality in those days.
So, my greatest challenge was to find my own style in art. And I feel I have found it by painting my toys, with different textures and colors to give them some character.
Away from your art, how do you spend your time?
I’m always searching for some new ideas, getting inspiration from everything and the people around me. Picking up new ideas and trying to implement them in future projects.
What are your plans and ambitions for the future?
What I desire the most is to be accepted by the public as an artist. That the public will see my art not only as decoration for child’s room, but also a representation of real personalities in a different way.
Check out Viktoria’s website – Artist Painter | Viktoria SG | Bratislavský kraj
Follow Viktoria SG on Instagram – Viktoria Skityba Grivel (@viktoriasg) • Instagram photos and videos