-Assa, we'd love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today, both personally and as an artist.
From a very young age I have clearly understood that art brings me happiness. Apart from that, I have always learned quickly, as it came easy to me. I started work early while I was still in school. I have worked during breaks as a cleaner in a childcare center- which was a physically straining job. And it was then that I understood that I have to learn, so in the future I could have a physically more lax job. My first degree was in economy. I worked in this field for a few years after finishing university. And I have very quickly learned that this job doesn't make me happy, nor does it give me a sense of fulfillment. To give context, I have never dropped art— it turned into a hobby. Then I realized that I did not wish to work whatsoever. I just want my creations, my favorite pastime to be my income. It is after all, a creative way of living- being able to do what you love. I again went to university. I have finished the school of arts in France, as well as taking private lessons from artists, and worked with photographers. Later I started getting invited to exhibitions and salons. And that is how I surely but slowly started to grow as a person and as an artist. Now I am an active member of the universal committee of art in Monaco and work with many galleries.
I must say, I am very thankful to myself for making the decision: to do what I love. Even though it was a very hard path, it has brought me completion and happiness. I love waking up to the feeling that a new exciting and interesting day awaits me, since for me that is what matters most.
-You talk about freedom as an artist, what does it mean for you to push beyond your comfort zone?
As an artist I try to achieve inner freedom, the kind that we had as kids. Since only freedom gives you the feeling of being able to fly. Kids are totally free in their art forms. As a kid grows, society bends the child to their structure. And as a person gets older, their personality changes. Even if you grow a watermelon in a cube, then it will absorb the shape of the cube. They do that in Japan, and you don't even have to weigh them! That is because all the watermelons weigh and cost the same. You can even call it an abuse of the fruit. But purely aesthetically, I still prefer the round ones. And if my voice would mean something in our unfree world, I would cry out to the world (round like watermelons) "Free the watermelons!"
Ok, now jokes aside, it begs the truth that if a watermelon grows up as a cube, it can't turn into a balloon! But what about a person?...
You can reach freedom using these two ways: either get rid of anyone and everyone or accept anyone and everyone. Both ways are effective. But for me, my freedom came after I used the first option- relative and debatable, achieved by the second option, absolute. The first requires bravery, determination, and personally very energy-consuming. The second is more absolute and more soft.
I prefer not to leave my comfort zone but to expand it. I'm interested and find happiness in learning about unfamiliar visual techniques, working with new materials, and creating new stories.
-What is something you haven't yet achieved in your art?
I don't have an endpoint in my art. My art is the process of evolution of myself in this world. As a person and an artist, I change with time, and so does the world around me. For me, art is the search for and the obtainability of balance- inner harmony. It's like a dance with reality, a rhythm set by life itself.
-What attribute do you feel is essential to success as an artist?
Personally, for me, the main characteristic of a successful artist is passion, bravery, and love for ones creations. As a result, we get energy that gives us the feeling of wanting to create art that you would be interested in looking at, ones that tell stories.
-What's the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
I can be reached through my site at www.art-assa.com, on Facebook, or on Instagram @artisteassa.
Statement
Inhaling, followed by a shrill cry on exhaling – this first cry at birth becomes an inspiration, a declaration, our striking statement to the world about our mission.
I inhale life and exhale an image: bold, contrasting, wise, reflecting the experience of her soul, offering a new masterpiece. I’m filled with the need to devote myself generously to my talent.
In constant search for meaning, I give birth to my art with a pattern entwining colors, ornaments, cultures, time: Man, animal, and creativity colored with strong realism - the legacy of previous eras - are the imprint of in-depth research.
Thus, I create my own identity while remaining an integral part of the world.
My work contributes to the development of visual language, penetrating into the very essence from first sight.
My paintings invite the contemplative soul of the viewer to feel the throbbing of the heart arising before words.
Emotions are much more sincere and louder than mere words. The universe is responsive only to emotions. That is why God, though deaf to your speech, hears your feelings! He sees your anger or joy, but most of all, he sees your love.
The artist becomes the bridge between the creator, your world and time.
I’m an artist with a unique technique that combines traditional oil painting and modern experimental materials. I pick up the brush when a vision or an idea comes to me. My way of perpetuating art is to remain free and preserve my creativity.
My motto: sincerity and value.
Could human beings be mere living yarns weaving their own reality? Whatever his path in life, man will one day disappear, and only what he has woven and created will remain after him. As in a surgical operation, man is likened to a thread creating a fabric without his having the slightest idea.
You have disappeared, but thanks to you, the canvas remains unaltered.
However, what is the point of a yarn? What is its function if not just to be a thread? As in the weaving loom, the patterns on the fabric appear gradually, thread after thread, at each turn of the spinning wheel. The fabric is a metaphor for our world, where we are only threads. Every man, beast, or spirit fights for their own existence. Taken individually, the creatures are sometimes meaningless and even completely invisible.
Nonetheless, the fabric into which they are woven as an integral part becomes a multicolored canvas, radiant and frightening, incomprehensible and elusive to all except God.
If man, the creator of the motif and yet a part of it, turns away from the pattern and looks to an uncertain future, then he sees nothing but the decay and destruction of his own mortal nature.
Being involved in something greater... is the essence.
Bio
As a child, Assa loved to contemplate her mother’s hands, staring at her face, gazing at every single detail, catching every line, every curve. The movement of wheat spikes from the playful wind in the field, the dance of a falling leaf, flocks of birds forming unusual shapes in the sky, ripples on the water from a thrown pebble, shadows – all this was captivating and seemed to be something significant. Her first discoveries about concentration on small things began then, opening up the whole world, the whole universe for the artist. The suggested set of colours or of pencils in a box always appeared to be limited to choose from. Her natural sense of colour and nuance wanted more – brighter and distinct.
As an adult, she was haunted by existential questions such as: Who am I? Who am I at heart? What is my real nature? Assa sought the answers to these questions during her travels which broadened her horizons and gave inner freedom and courage. Different cultures, lifestyles, traditions and their influence on people’s attitudes toward life filled, changed and revealed the painter in her. Craving for art, she gained strong insights as she got acquainted with the works of great masters in world-famous museums. Once she was completely immersed in a painting, a sculpture, or any piece of art, she saw more than anyone else. Such moments gave her the impression that time was slowing down, allowing her internal dialogue to begin. This is an intimate conversation with the creator of the painting or sculpture; a conversation through centuries and eras about time, values, history. She would ask questions, receive answers and vice versa, she would answer questions in return through the prism of modernity; this dialogue changes over the course of her life as she matures and her takes on things and phenomena alter.
Essentially, the ideal (initially fleeting and negligible small idea) turns into something material, capable of outliving its creator for hundreds of years. How is that possible? Man passes away but a thought does not. She leaves behind something everlasting. Then the realization dawned on her that a work of art is more than just an object – it is a treasure trove of senses.
Any painting, sculpture or artwork acquires a greater volume in perception through time. The moment of «epiphany» came when she understood and felt with certainty that art is what gives maximum pleasure, energy and meaning. She decided to study at the School of Applied Arts in Nice, France. That was a life-changing decision for her. Years of study there made Assa undergo a global internal transformation. With gratitude and an insatiable appetite, she allowed new knowledge to come in, absorbed various skills and joyfully explored secret corners of her soul, revealing super power and energy to create.
Nevertheless, it is common knowledge that any discoveries occur by overcoming fears, doubts, feelings of diffidence in front of a clean, boundless white canvas. The scariest part was to start. Whenever she conquered her fears, the magical power of art was uncovered and there was no place for disbeliefs or concerns. As a means to overcome those fears completely, each time before the birth of a new masterpiece, the artist starts with bold, impulsive, chaotic brushstrokes that turn into the painting that only needs clarification and details afterwards.
Today it is more of a gentle tremor and sparkling inspiration in front of a blank canvas, sensations that have nothing in common with fear. The path that the artist went through has influenced not only their abilities as a painter, but also their personality as well. They perceive art as a language that literally conveys energy and feelings. It is not expressed by definite logical articulations of the verbal language, by formulas or algorithms but by means of images, contrasts, lines, colours, etc.
At this moment in time, the artist already had the experience of individual and collective exhibitions in France, Italy, Monaco, Japan. They are a painter-member of the National Committee of Monaco of the International Association of Plastic Arts to UNESCO under the patronage of Prince Albert II.
Art lovers from England, Japan and France have their works in their private collections.
Yes, the artist dreamed it. Yes, they believed it. Their every painting is saturated with their energy and one will find a part of it in each one.