Vivid Expressions

Patricia Abramovich’s paintings are inspired by the merging of colour and the rhythms of applying shapes to a blank canvas. Developing these ideas further, Abramovich launched ABStudio, a textile design and fashion brand that focuses on wearable art, sharing the aesthetics and meditative process of painting through bold, colourful prints.

A: You have noted: “Spreading colours across a canvas is a means of meditation; I connect with my inner self.” How do you prepare yourself to enter a meditative state?
PA: My painting begins in a special state of mind. I need to be totally connected to my inner self and to be free from any noise; I close the studio door to get some silence.

My studio is one of the rooms in our apartment. I must be in a good health, as I need strength to begin a creation. Sometimes I feel that I am guided by something bigger than me; it is only the blank canvas, the colours and me.

A: In what ways does your work visually express your inner consciousness?
PA: Colours and the layers can reveal the depths of the soul. For example, the spatula strokes help to show my warm temperament. The result shows that I like to do everything in a different way. I feel like a fountain of creativity and always search for new painting techniques. And I love to research colour.

A: Are elements of Japanese art and calligraphy incorporated into the method of your painting work? If so, what aspects of Japanese art and spirituality inspire your work?
PA: Not yet, but my next projects include a Japanese inspired series; I recently ordered some Japanese products to create this collection.

I have many books about the Japanese art at home and I feel inspired by reading them. I bought them many years ago, like all the art books I’ve bought. They’re French books, all about painting and sculpture techniques, and I love reading all of them.

A: You have noted that your major influences are Monet and Cezanne – which elements of their work have you incorporated into your own?
PA: Yes, they are the perfect impressionist masters for me. I always try to paint from my soul – then I achieve the best results. I don’t copy or try to paint like other painters, but the fact that I read books about them and see their paintings in books hundreds of times definitely reflects in my paintings.

A: In recent years you have moved from landscape painting to abstraction. Do you think you will paint a new landscape series, or is abstraction your focus for the foreseeable future?
PA: I think abstraction has always been present, even in my earlier watercolour and oil paintings. My floral and landscape paintings have an abstract style, especially when painted from my imagination. Abstraction is a way of having freedom in the process, which is so important to me. I’m sure I’ll continue to research landscape and abstract themes.

A: What inspired the creation of your fashion brand ABStudio, and in what ways does your artistic practice transfer to textiles and clothing? Is ABStudio more about wearable art, or about fashion trends?
PA: I saw some artists that have created fashion collections; I knew immediately that I want to have some fashion collections too.

I found a wonderful Internet course about textile pattern design where I learned to transform my art into appealing designs for fashion and home products. For a year I learned Photoshop as well as other courses.

Then I saw a scarves collection that an artist had designed for a new US-based website for designers that transformed art into printed fashion and home products. I began to work with them and ordered some scarves to see the quality of the product. It was a great moment – the scarves were beautiful, in a soft and high-quality textile. Then they launched a kimono, which was a super product for the collection.

This year, after I was accepted as an independent designer for the luxury brands Wolf & Badger and Wear Eponymous, I definitely understood that I run a fashion business and will focus on the silk scarves collections I print in Como, Italy as well as the kimono collections that are incredible accessories.

A: How do you balance the demands of a business (ABStudio) with being a painter?
PA: It’s really hard to balance. I am busy with ABStudio this year but I have a goal to paint at least three or four new oil series. I think I’ll achieve this goal.

I painted two abstract series this year and three landscapes from our last trip; I usually get inspired from our travels.

A: How involved are you with the promotion of the ABStudio brand, for example the photography shoots? Do you see these shoots as part of running a business, or do you see them as a new way of expressing your artistic vision?
PA: I think I do all of the promotional steps. I take photographs of my products when I receive my printed orders; I love to do that and have learned a lot about it. And I manage my social networks – that is a lot of work.

The latest printed collection from Italy was really special, so I organised a shoot day. I have the privilege that my daughter Stephanie Abramovich is a professional photographer. So we went to the seashore and she shot my collection with the help of her wonderful friends that were our models for the day.

Another way I found to shoot my products is with the cooperation of influencer fashion models, and have recently had some photographs of my scarves done in London.

A: What plans do you have for the remainder of the year and in 2019?
PA: Plan number one is marketing my present and future fashion collections to new luxury stockists and stores.

Plan number two is to organise an exhibition for my new oil painting series in 2019. I think it should be in a New York or London gallery or art fair.

Plan number three is painting my Japanese-style oil series that I am preparing for now.

And I don’t forget that I want to be a good mother, wife and grandma for my beloved family.

ABStudio Fashion items can be purchased at Wolf & Badger:
www.wolfandbadger.com/uk/designers/patricia-abramovich

www.abramovichpatricia.com
www.instagram.com/abramovichp

Images:
London, 2018.
Chaconne. Oil painting on canvas, 140cm x 100cm.
Blue Road. Oil on canvas, 90cm x 70cm.
Explosion. Oil painting on canvas, 70cm x 70cm.
Explosion. Oil painting on canvas, 70cm x 70cm.
Divine Pine Forest. Oil on canvas, 140cm x 100cm.
Landscape paintings in Abramovich’s studio.
A Woman in Blue. Oil painting on canvas, 70cm x 100cm.
London, 2018.

The work of Patricia Abramovich appears in the Artists’ Directory in Issue 85 of Aesthetica. To pick up a copy, visit our shop: www.aestheticamagazine.com/shop