Shoshana Kertesz
AFA: You have conducted over 40 art exhibits during the course of your career, award winning, and published. What are the elements contained in your works which lead you to such success?
Shoshana Kertesz: I think that people find my art relatable, because it expresses genuine human emotions and states of mind that are common to most of us, but perhaps sometimes hidden or resting deep inside and need to be stirred. People want to be lifted out of the mundane through art and my job as an artist is to dig deep in the dirt like a miner and bring out the precious stones.
AFA: How has your published writing of poetry and fiction impacted your visual art?
Shoshana Kertesz: To me it feels like writing and visual arts come from different parts of my brain. I would go through periods of time when I feel inspired to write but not to paint, and vice versa. However, I believe that both genres come from the same source, to explore what is inside the human (and more specifically my own) mind and spirit. These explorations in my writing sometimes lead me to places that expand my point of view and I can tap into that place visually as well. A lot of my poetry contains verbal expressions of things I comprehend visually, it`s just another channel that I use to describe what I see.
AFA: What are your thoughts on the mediums of painting and photography?
Shoshana Kertesz: My photography captures the moment while my painting interprets it. In photography I use what already exist, what I spontaneously run into, to capture something that stood out or catches my attention, while in painting I start on a blank canvas and create something out of nothing.
AFA: Why do you paint portraits on influential 20th century figures?
Shoshana Kertesz: Painting them is sort of a tribute I pay to them for influencing and touching me, and making this world a better place through their art, music and philosophy. It is exciting for me to research their lives and art and to try to put the puzzle of their personality together using what I`ve learnt and what I feel about them. It is true, I am looking at a photograph and not a real person while painting, but because of the process of getting to know them I almost feel as though they are my friends, I know their desires and dislikes, I am aware of their strength and weaknesses, and I try to connect with their art through my art and give the painting that extra dimension that is beyond copying a photograph.
AFA: What does it mean to be an international artist?
Shoshana Kertesz: To me it means to represent and to reach a variety of cultures. I love to travel and get to know different cultures. It helps me open my mind up to things I have never experienced, heard or seen before. I also moved countries a couple of times because of life circumstances which has been a challenge, but art has been a constant companion in the midst of change, and one thing that has the power to bring people of different cultures together.
AFA: Your paintings focus on the subjects of portraits, music, time, biblical, and other themes. Why do you choose these topics?
Shoshana Kertesz:These subjects usually coincide with my current interests. I like to explore Biblical passages, study about the nature of space-time, I am fascinated by gifted musicians, writers, and humans in general. The “other” category mostly includes expressions of psychological states, questions of identity, brokenness, and other inner workings using mixed media and oil. I paint the things that I enjoy, things that stir me and things I want to express and tell others about using my own interpretation, the way I see these subjects, while the “other” category has become more abstract in the sense that those pieces are a more direct expression of feelings without being confined to specific subject matters.
