Lika Shkhvatsabaia was born in 1972 in Tbilisi, to sculpting and painting parents. She tells us her love for art comes from her childhood, inspired by the artists and people she grew up around. After graduating in Monumental Painting from the Academy of the Fine Arts of Tbilisi, she continued her studies at the International University of Siena, Italy, and now lives in Spain. GEORGIA TODAY asked to interview her as part of the BI Auction ‘Meet the Artist’ collaborative series.
“I have authored numerous projects and exhibitions in Europe over the years,” she says. “It is both interesting and difficult, but ultimately gives me valuable experience. My last project saw me among 15 finalists for the ‘Premio de Artista de Europa,’ and I had an exhibition in Milan in January this year. Within the same project, there will be an exhibition in Paris in April. My personal exhibition, which was organized at Iart Gallery last year in Tbilisi, was really very special and unique – to, after all these years, present my art in my own country.”
How would you describe your work? Which trends in art or important artists have had an impact on you?
My paintings are above all an emotion. Inspiration from this world, which makes me look for energy, beauty in itself to transfer to a surface and materialize it. On some occasions, my canvases have an origin in themselves and are constituted as an autonomous organism that germinates and extends through a process of net artistic development, as a work of art and as an idea in its pure state that is transferred to matter from my most creative cerebral side.
Ways of building or composing are linked to abstraction, the physical, the strength and materialization of feeling to obtain the final result of my work: Inspiring intense emotions that transmit my vision of the universe. Artists who made a great impression on me: El Greco, Velazquez, Kandinsky, Chagall, and Dufy.
Name a piece of art you think everyone should see in person.
Everyone should definitely see Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel in their lifetimes!
What is your view of the virtual art space, of exhibitions, auctions and sales?
Physical contact with the work is fundamental for me. However, the virtual space is an indispensable part of our life, and at the same time a great comfort. As I said before, the main thing in my works is emotion and energy, to bring this to the viewer. As for selling, the artist should be free from that. The commercial side should be done by an art curator, gallerist.
How do you position your art and yourself in the Georgian art scene?
It’s difficult for me to specify what position I am in as an artist in Georgia. This is just the way that one chooses as a lifestyle, and time will tell.
How do you evaluate ‘change’ in art in Georgia?
I think there is a lot of potential and talent in Georgian art today, along with a constant searching and changing. This is also a part of the era and time… we just have to follow our thoughts, our freedom.
What do you wish for art and artists, in Georgia, especially for their artistic presence in Europe?
First of all, I wish creative energy and great inspiration to all artists; to have all the opportunity and desire to show their art. As for Europe, from this point of view, I believe that the main thing is to recognize yourself, your art, and to believe that you have chosen the right way.
There are a lot of wonderful artists in Europe who can’t or don’t have the means to work, which is very sad. There are also many weak works that have commercial success. All this together is one big movement called Contemporary Art, behind which there is a lot of work, struggle and self-discovery.
By Katie Ruth Davies
