An artist profile of Anna Pantchev.
Describe your process of creating a piece. What materials do you normally work in?
I start working on wood panels always with layered up washes of house paint. I find wood panels the best for my process, the hard surfaces is very helpful for piling on lots of paint and for when using masking tape. I usually use some sort of white by the “Painter’s Touch” paints which I find works well with acrylic paints and has a great tackiness and shine to it it feels so industrial. The paintings start out far more gestural than they appear at their end point. Although the gestures and loose structures often appear through built up masses of paint, I tend to use them as loose markers for what to do, even though they are applied in a very stream of consciousness way. Ultimately the surface starts to become enveloped by more hard edge geometric forms much in the way that things grow in nature, say like crystals.
I heavily consider colour placement. I am obsessed with colour, literally. I get crushes on colours, which I think can be accredited to my initial attractions to paint in the first place.
What projects are you working on? What do you have coming up, any shows?
I just finished up a solo show at the Barbershop Gallery at 1718 Queen West, and was recently published in the current issue of ROJO magazine, so I have been laying low for the past couple of weeks.
I am currently working on a side project. It is a collaborative effort with curator Rafi Ghanaghounian and artist James Gauvreau opening July 16th at Keep 6 Contemporary, 938 Bathurst.
I am also very proud to be involved with the Casey House Art with Heart Auction again this year, as well as a number of other events yet to be confirmed for the Fall.
Keep checking my blog! I announce stuff all the time.
When are you most productive?
I find that when I get an early start to the day and am well caffeinated, I can just plow right through an entire day. It’s important for me to start work early because my studio is away from my apartment and there ends up always being things going on in the evening that are distracting.
When did creating art become something important in your life?
It’s always just been a thing in my life I have never really questioned it. I remember as early as five years old I would have my mom’s fashion magazines spread across the living room floor and would obsessively try to draw everything from the magazine pages exactly. I loved doing things all on my own, especially growing up as a child. Being a loner child actually gave me the time to focus on drawing….I also had the extreme privilege of attending an arts high school where I majored in Visual Art. High school was really the time when I started to understand contemporary practices in more depth and began to flirt with the idea of an art career.
What are some of your favorite spots in the city? Some favourite places to go, eat, drink, bike ride?
I am a big fan of biking to the islands and having picnics on the beach and going swimming. I find that I spend a lot of my free time trying to escape the city. I like going camping and staying at cottages as much as possible. Being surrounded by nature is very essential.
My favorite place to get food in the city is from Vincent’s Sushi on Roncesvalles. It’s the best sushi in the city by far and I go there specifically for their avocado tempura and spicy yam maki.
As for shops, BMV is a favorite of mine. I collect a lot of books and it is like heaven being in there.
What are you currently obsessed with? Any blogs, pod casts, films, artists?
Blogs that I’m really into right now are Booooooom and the Tiny Vices blog. I am reading a book called “Mythtym” by Trinie Dalton (which is a compilation book of a zine) and just starting re-read the book “Symmetry: A Journey Through Patterns in Nature” By: Marcus du Sautoy (who is an incredible Mathematician and writer). I like to do a lot of dorky things around the apartment like planting flowers and reorganizing my book shelves. I am obsessed with this album by a group called “Science Fiction Dance Party” that came out in 1970. The music sounds exactly like what the title implies.
What are your thoughts on the Toronto art scene compared to everywhere else you’ve experienced?
Well, I have never really functioned in a scene outside of Toronto as an artist, so I can’t make a true comparison. However, judging from what I have seen and heard the Toronto art community is very close knit and everyone is nice to each other. Also, a lot of Toronto artists seem be really blowing up on the international scene, which I find very inspiring…there is a lot of talent here for sure.
What is your survival food? Cheap eats for the starving artist?
The Monday night half price Nachos at Mitzi’s Sister are always a good deal. At $6 a plate you can pretty much feed two people. I like the $3.99 shawarma at Ali Baba’s in Parkdale as well. Lots of tap water. I have also been packing lunches when I go to the studio too.
Any last words?
Thank you for reading this! Go to my blog: annapantchev.blogspot.com
