My artistic name is Lana P. and I was born in Rijeka, Croatia in 1989. I got my first art education through the studies of the History of Art at the University of Zagreb (2007-2010) and the studies of the multimedia in the service of cultural heritage at the University of Coimbra, Portugal (2010-2012). Later I took specialization courses in graphic design, as well as private lessons in academic drawing with Ms. Elisavet Dionisiou in Athens, Greece (2022-2024).
Throughout 2010s, I traveled a lot, worked in marketing with a special emphasis on social media/digital marketing, I was often responsible for photography and text, and hence had a unique opportunity to feel all the paradoxes of the modern living, and how it still shows a beauty in disguise, and a trace of hope. Many of my photography work from the period between 2009 and 2019 showcase the concept of people on places, where the crowds on touristy places which I often frequented are not uncomfortable or something to avoid in photography, but are rather interesting phenomena of contemporary existence, with a huge potential for artistic exploration.
Artist statement
My work explores the ambiguity and doubt in many ways they show up. The matters of presence and absence are the core contrasts, as every animate and inanimate object occupies a space, but the spiritual or emotional presence is a completely different topic than the physical one. That is why I incorporate often uncomfortable figures in the environments where they seem to stand, but are not sure if they are really standing or why.
The signs of this doubt often stems from the usage of mobile phones, from subtle confusion or lack of understanding of what is happening around, and from the distance that gives a sense of how small a human is in the large world. Further, the subtle layers of human presence are often explored through other human made phenomena, including cars, ships, trains, and buildings. The sense of abandonment is cyclical - whatever seems abandoned seems open for a new beginning, with a small sign of life that needs to be followed.
I use a variety of materials and often tries experimenting a combination or mixed media. I developed my initial aesthetic through pen and watercolor, while later adding acrylics as a flexible material that allows the real time exploration and improvisation. My use of color is intended to cause this same sense of doubt, often combining the realistic natural color and one area of the unexpected palette, with no clear emotions attached to it, just questions.
My first solo exhibition, titled "human too small, world too big" is bringing up a dialog on presence and absence, on abandonment and reencounter. Many artworks contain two people and an open question about their relationship, their height, shape, or even their gender. They often have a single task, to explore the ambiguity around them.
On the painting "Dead-end Date", the assumption of dating is brought through the title and the way the figures are aligned, while nothing in the motif suggests dating - these are just two people sitting on the same table, and equally looking at their phones, somewhere in the dead end of the corridor of an industrial building. The "Deep Down" explores the depth in a similar way, not giving humans as much chance for the visibility as cars get, while the world of more idyllic light and colors seems unattainable. The "Soon" had an implicit message not only on the climate change, but all the societal changes over the past decades. Once a couple would go for a summer holidays and have their space at the beach, while now, they are pushed to the sea. The "They found parking" is made as an intimate association to the city of Nafplio, where a long gone train line used to pass, and the station remains. The heavy diagonal division suggests the contrast between the two ideas of finding parking. The board writing the Greek word meaning "somewhere" is made to hook the Greek-speaking audience quickly, and to cause a slight sense of doubt and mystery in the non Greek-speaking viewer. Finally, the "Confused seasons" bring some irony on the weather that does not cease to confuse as, as it requires a viewer to pay a strong attention to details that put the summer and the winter in a direct conflict.
I live and work in Athens, and I am a professional artist since 2023.