I was immediately mesmerized by Eva’s artwork upon first seeing them. Dream-like worlds you enter, into powerful works, which have a certain vulnerability to them at the same time. They make you think and invite you in to discover this world deeper.
For the following I asked Eva if she wants to do an interview with me:
Luna Maluna Gri: Tell me a bit about yourself and your work.
Eva Yurková: I am a visual artist working mainly with traditional printmaking techniques. I come from the Czech Republic, but I have been living and working in Vienna since 2016. Besides printmaking I paint, draw, do ceramics and paper-collage. My work is an ever-present introspection, a selection of delicate details of scenes from life, moments of interpersonal connections, traditions, natural environment and life within.
LMG: How and why did you start creating art?
EY: During my school years I was trained in classical drawing. I felt like I didn’t fit much into the traditional teaching and tried to find ways to work around it, yet still work figuratively. The meticulous drawing classes were always a bit of a suffering, but once I started printing, I found a new enjoyment in the rawness of the process. I always quickly changed hobbies and had trouble sticking with one thing until I started to do prints. Printmaking was suddenly something that fascinated me and could occupy me for long hours and years coming.
LMG: What role does creating art play for you?
EY: A crucial one. I build my life around it, as much as it builds up my life.
LMG: What does your creating process look like?
EY: I take what I see and relates to me – colors, plants, shapes, bodies,… and combine them with each other. Most of the time, the composition is determined by collaging and positioning. I proceed in mindful steps. Sometimes I sketch, sometimes I take photos, cut out, paint or print, glue, carve, make stamps, wherever the work leads.
LMG: What inspires you?
EY: On one level it is simply shapes and colors I see in nature. On the other hand it is a view on power relations between people and symbolism of objects within our social environment.
LMG: What is your experience with the art world?
EY: It is quite impossible for me to talk about the art world as a whole. There are so many smaller worlds within the big one. Just geographically speaking to those, in which I move around; Being an artist in Vienna is a different experience compared to being an artist in Prague, despite their close proximity. Personally I believe the experience is a lot about how you make it for yourself and about the people you surround yourself with.
LMG: Is there something you want to change about the art world? If yes, what and why?
EY: In general, I would wish to see less competition and comparison in the art world.
LMG: What do you think is/are the role/-s of artists and art in our society?
EY: I see artists as cultural contributors. Artists rethink the given and create new forms of reality from it. They have the power to break through the mundane.
LMG: What artist/artists would you like to meet (dead or alive) and if you had one question what would you ask them?
EY: There are so many. But the first ones that spontaneously come to mind are my personal heroes of printmaking – Gert and Uwe Tobias. I would ask them if I could spend a few days with them in their studio to observe their process of working together.
LMG: Is there something you want to achieve in your art life? Dreams? Future plans? Or projects you would like to do?
EY: I like to set my goals operatively and take things step by step. At the moment, I’m working towards fulfilling my long-term dream of getting a printing press and having a printmaking station inside my studio.
LMG: Do you think there is something you can bring to this world through your work as an artist which you couldn’t in any other field of work?
EY: For me, the greatest reward in being an artist is creating a dialog, whether verbal or non-verbal, by creating a form of value that I can share with others in the long run.
Copyright Portrait: Ulrich Aydt
Copyright to all other photos and artworks: Eva Yurková
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eva_yurkova/
