Biography
Rajka Kupesic has developed a unique personal style of painting that has entranced art lovers across Canada, The United States, and Europe.
The rigid discipline of her early artistic training and her intensive
study of paintings have produced an art form that was once rooted
in the naive tradition of unschooled observation of everyday life
but has progressed far beyond its origins. Today, her work can be
described only in its own terms of fluidity, movement, and emotion.
Perhaps, one key to her work is Kupesic’s declaration that
"I follow the music." This is literally true, as she listens
to music while she paints (Mozart is a favourite),
It is also figuratively true, as she always finds the rhythm in
her subject matter.
It comes as no surprise to learn that Kupesic was classically trained
as a ballerina, and danced for many years in Europe while developing
her art. Naturally, she is finely attuned to movement and her larger-than-life
figures seem to flow across the canvas in delightfully whimsical
fashion.But this lightness of effect is achieved through painstaking effort.
Each of Kupesic's paintings is worked out first in one or more detailed
sketches. Next, the pigments for her palette are carefully blended
until the desired colours are found, whether vivid or soft and subtle.
She also follows the classical convention of painting on linen.Her mastery of her technique can be seen in the imperceptible blending
of brush strokes. The result is a canvas with a smooth and finished
surface. Colours merge and change without jarring the eye. The people,
landscapes, and cityscapes that Rajka brings to life all share rounded,
flowing lines. With her unique handling of detail, colour, and mood,
Kupesic infuses the familiar with an extraordinary quality.
"I paint with great emotion," she says. "My goal is to create movement and beauty... Art is an escape from reality... It gives us a greater beauty that may be a higher reality."
Her work has been shown in numerous galleries worldwide. It has been featured in magazines in France, Canada, and Japan, and in major collections around the world. Rajka Kupesic resides in Toronto with her husband Zlatko and their two sons.
