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With unusual materials from the construction industry, artist Svetlana Gepner creates structured works with a special feel. In an interview with GEORGE V MAGAZINE, she tells how she found her way to art, what role a gallery exhibition played in this and why building materials are among her most important creative tools today.
GVM: Mrs. Gepner, your works of art fascinate with a special materiality. How did your journey to painting begin?
Svetlana Gepner: The fascination with painting has been with me all my life. I was born in Russia and came to Germany at the age of eleven. Even as a child, I was enthusiastic about painting, because it had something magical for me. However, I have never attended an art school. For many years, painting was mainly a private retreat for me. In the evening I santed mandalas to rest and organize my thoughts after a long day.
GVM: Was there a certain key moment that led you from the mandalas to the free art?
Svetlana Gepner: Yes, and this moment changed my life. Two years ago, a friend took me to a gallery exhibition. When I stood there in front of the pictures, I knew immediately: This is my world. It felt like I had found something that had been dormant inside me for a long time. Everything suddenly seemed familiar and coherent. When I got home, I knew that’s exactly what I wanted to do.
GVM: How did you develop your own extraordinary style?
Svetlana Gepner: I first started to do intensive research and deal with different artists and techniques. However, I found the decisive inspiration in my everyday professional life. I work in the office of a construction company and am responsible for ordering materials, among other things. At some point I wondered what creative potential was in these building materials. So I started experimenting with plaster, textured pastes and other building materials.
Since then I have been creating my own works with great passion and a lot of space for new ideas. When painting, I feel completely in my element. It fills me with deep satisfaction, and each picture tells its own story.