MUNTHE ART MONDAY: BERNADETT TIMKO

Instagram: @Bernadett_timko_artist

Please introduce yourself and tell us about what you do.

I'm Bernadett Timko and I'm a figurative painter. I was born in Hungary in 1992 and has been living in London since 2011. I was trained traditionally in figurative drawing, painting, sculpture and I also studied a bit of printmaking especially etching. My main focus is and always will be painting. I paint everyday scenes and ordinary moments that I find beauty in. I love to play with colours and see where the painting takes me.

I paint pretty much every day and it's definitely a necessity for me. My subjects can pop up from anywhere at any minute and I never struggle with a creative block as I try to made sure it's not a possibility.

Could you explain more about how being a woman has affected your career?

I really couldn't think of an experience where my career was affected by my gender. I don't know if anything would have happened differently if I wasn't a woman. My experiences perhaps would have differed and I would paint a bit differently? I really don't think about this a lot because it doesn't benefit my mind. I always try to do my personal best, as I am still trying to see and work towards where I want to be with my career.

Can you name some other female (artist) that inspires you and explain why they do so?

I'm not inspired by artists themselves but with their artworks. I find inspiration in every kind of art. I don't have favorites as I change my mind and get excited by new things I see quite often. But if I had to mention names, I would say I was looking a lot of Deborah Tarr and Maja Dlugolecki paintings in the last couple of weeks. Harmonious and well-balanced abstract paintings that they create cleanses my visual palette and brings peaceful space into my mind. I love abstract painting even though I’m a figurative artist. I think every painting is abstract on different levels. I like to remind myself that a lot of ideas come outside of my echo chambers.

What has been the most challenging aspect of being a female artist?

I'm lucky enough that I don’t have particular challenges just because I'm a woman. I experience challenges like most people do because I'm a human and life sucks more often than not.

I don't like to find scapegoats if my career isn't going as well as I hope it would. I reevaluate my practice, my competition and the art market where I'm trying to succeed in. I try to see if the place and time is the right one for what I have to offer and really have a healthy critical look at my work every now and then to see what I can do differently. Like what doesn't work, where am I lacking and why some paintings come out just mediocre. Also, I have a look on what's going on in my life that is stressful and taking away from my focus?

It's everything but my gender that's influencing how my career is going. There are way too many brilliant examples of women's achievements and I have my privileges that I recognize too. I would never cry about something not going well just because I'm a woman. Unfortunately, there are women who are real victims of gender inequality but I can't be their voice in a genuine way.

What would you like people to notice in your artwork?

I would like people to notice the beauty in simple things and stop every now and then to appreciate them. That's what I do to be able to paint my pictures. I put a lot of emotions into my art naturally and I like when people feel that. Or simply if someone just really like a particular brushstroke or line I did I'm very happy with that too.

Bernadett is wearing our Jarum pants and Jouge jeans.