SYBARITIC POSES acts in abstract painting

My first impression when I looked at your works from the SYBARITIC POSES series are acts in abstract painting. The second is a fascinating title: SYBARITIC POSES. It’s a code, it shouldn’t be taken literally?

Jan Astner: Sybaritism is a lazy, comfortable lifestyle in luxury, the idea of ​​a prosperous life, indulging in pleasure. Acts in abstract painting show nudes, contours of a female body, drawing of a female body. A sybaritic rest. A willingness to be satisfied with yourself, with your femininity, with what symbolizes happiness. These poses are endless, self-satisfied. Such a tempting worship of yourself.

And for this purpose you choose abstract painting?

Jan Astner: Abstract painting allows you to express sublimation and infinity. To achieve this goal, I am eliminating the naturalistic depiction of nature. I intentionally reject tradition and association with any clearly defined object. Not only in this series of paintings.

So the act in abstract painting is just an excuse?

Jan Astner: In my works I want to show the infinity, the durability of certain states. Happiness. Man’s pursuit of happiness. The process. I consider this my goal in life. SYBARITIC POSES symbolize a search aimed at fulfillment, happiness. Permanent happiness is not possible. That is why my paintings are fluid, shaky, changeable, not always obvious. Just acts in abstract painting.

But looking at these abstract nudes, I don’t have the impression of „going wild”!

Jan Astner: Because the creative act itself is strictly controlled. The goal is to awaken certain, planned experiences in the viewer. I strive to create an illusion. Through it I want to get an emotional effect of great strength.

In the series of acts in abstract painting you have developed your own painting technique …

Jan Astner: Acrylic paint is my painting medium. It allows to paint by rinsing. Additionally, I experiment with color and its saturation. I use metallic paints that change color depending on the angle of viewing. I cover the fragments of the paintings with light-reflecting varnish. I also use op-art solutions. I use metallic and fluorescent paints.

Are the means of expression you use meant to „plan” how your image will be received? Are you pushing the recipient in a certain direction of reception?

Jan Astner: To some extent. Yes. After all, in some cases, an image should be viewed under soft light so that it can emit its own light. Bright images should be brightly lit. Pictures should have space around them. The reception is then very personal and provokes reflection. By changing the angle of looking at the picture, we notice different color effects, different lighting effects. The picture comes to life, draws in, calls out, invites, creates illusions, and then my goal is achieved!

So color. Color is one of the keys to your creativity …

Jan Astner: Certainly! I am constantly looking for an answer to the question of how much expression there is in color. In my works I analyze how the illusion of existence can be created. I am committed to creating an almost physical presence. I am not interested in movement, but in a static pose, a specific state. Color is at the heart of the SYBARITIC POSES series. I want to convey an emotional effect by choosing colors …

How about drawing your abstract painting, applying an outline so visible in this series?

Jan Astner: Drawing determines composition. I use lines to create a clear composition. I divide large areas of my paintings into unambiguous parts and fill them with uniform, flat color. SYBARITIC POSES are abstract acts. The drawing suggests female bodies. The forms suggest a blissful sybaritic rest, a fulfillment of happiness.

The drawing divides the picture clearly and definitely into two separate spaces.

Jan Astner: In two worlds. The abstract act and the background on which it is presented. This outer part is softer in expression, a bit ascetic, it coolly reflects what is happening in the inner part. The interior is rich, showing the richness of sybaritism. There is life, activity. A lot is happening there. Life, emotions, feelings are there in this interior!

Abstract painting as a sublimation of feelings?

Jan Astner: Yes. I understand it as a shift of unacceptable will, needs and expectations for creativity. Art allows me to move to the world of immaterial feelings and impressions. I create a world where the idealism of SYBARITIC POSES differs from everyday life. I show an ideal world, a world full of happiness. Only abstract painting allows this.