Each day, I felt a strong need to capture the view from my studio window. It was not driven by impressionistic motives, but rather by a desire to catch the mood and the shifting rhythms of daily life, – artist Lia Bagrationi tells us in her sit-down with GEORGIA TODAY. We begin by asking about her focus on the conceptualization of clay and multimedia projects, and recent attention-shift to painting, leading to the exciting outcome of her new series ‘View from My Window.’
The broad context of the show was valuable, facilitating a dialogue with important Georgian artists from different periods
“My main medium has been ceramics since 2000, when I started my professional creative journey,” she tells us. “From an early age, I always found painting to be fascinating. Before entering the Academy of Arts, I studied architecture, and later, on the advice of my mentor Tazo Khutsishvili, I turned to painting. For fairly unanticipated reasons, I eventually decided to enroll in the Faculty of Ceramics. Nevertheless, my love of painting stayed a recurring theme throughout. I always kept paints and a stretched canvas in my studio. During the pandemic, I started painting more deliberately; the medium gave my work fresh conceptual clarity.
You named your new series ‘View from My Window.’ Can you tell us more about the development of this series? How is your subjective vision expressed in these works?
This idea developed naturally. Each day, I felt a strong need to capture the view from my studio window. It was not driven by impressionistic motives, but rather by a desire to catch the mood and the shifting rhythms of daily life. Initially, the scale of the view dictated the perspective, as the spatial dimensions were a major consideration. The size of the space provided the initial impetus for where to begin.
Pictorial solutions are always part of a larger space, content, and conceptual framework
You presented some of these works at the Tbilisi Independent – Frieze N9 Cork Street exhibition in London. What kind of dialogues or reflections did showing your work in such an important international space provoke?
This exhibition was certainly a significant collaboration for me. One of the most valuable aspects of this experience was the broad context of the show, which facilitated a dialogue with important Georgian artists from different periods, as co-curated by the art consultancy ReachArt Visual. This format reinforced my deep appreciation for painting as a medium.
Each day, I felt a strong need to capture the view from my studio window
What kind of conceptual research are you thinking about developing in the future? How might your approach to painting shape your current work or influence future projects?
I am currently working on a new painting project where the conceptual approach remains fundamental. My artistic inquiries always start from a conceptual foundation. For example, in my solo exhibition “Sky-Turquoise, Land-Emerald, or View from My Window” at the Atinati Gallery, I presented a pictorial object exactly the size of my window. The window became the main reference point for the perspective through which I observed the series. I also introduced a self-portrait as the observing subject within the exhibition. For me, pictorial solutions are always part of a larger space, content, and conceptual framework. At least, that’s how I approach it for now.
By Team GT
