Anda Kubis
Anda Kubis, Flor, 2022, Oil on Canvas, 36×36, Newzones Gallery, Calgary, Canada
As part of the New Abstraction movement in Canada, Anda Kubis continues her play with colour, space and illusion. Painterly and improvisational, Kubis’ work continues to capture a screen-like illumination from within the picture with light clusters and refractions across the surface of the canvas.
Anda Kubis’ paintings feel like suspended moments that are temporarily captured in time, as their colourful forms bounce, collide, coalesce, and stretch across the canvas. Painstakingly finessed and layered, the intensity of the colour is created through thin yet full layers of oil paint that build to a glowing opacity. Kubis’ work is traditionally informed by modernist paintings, photography and digital image production,paintings pulse and vibrate through a considered choice of tonal values and combinations of natural and artificial colour. A seeming contradiction, these paintings capture an encroaching feeling of rapid change and instability through slow, deliberate and subtly off-kilter compositions. Consequently, the works present a visually alert space for contemplation, celebrating a mindset that marries a loose improvisational approach with careful decision making. As a result, the paintings sing.
With degrees from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and York University, Kubis is invested in crossing her artistic practice with design and architecture, material exploration, and her significant career in teaching. Anda Kubis is Associate Professor and Chair of Criticism & Curatorial Practice, Cross-Disciplinary Art Practices, and Art & Social Change at OCAD University.
Kubis’ paintings have been widely exhibited across Canada in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Her work can be found in private and corporate collections throughout North America, including Global Affairs Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, NYC, Bank of Montreal, Inter Pipeline, Calgary, Keg Restaurants Ltd., and Nordstrom, to name a few. As a result of a long-standing career, Anda Kubis’ work has been reviewed in Canadian Art Magazine and her paintings are also included in the publication, “Carte Blanche 2: Painting”, printed by Magenta Publishing for the Arts.
ANDA KUBIS, ON HER DIGITAL PAINTINGS:
“I approach all of my work as an abstract painter. I do not draw but I push and pull the visual space of the painted picture plane around to find its composition with colour and brushwork. This I do with oil paint on canvas, or now, within the virtual space of a computer. Due to recent advances in digital imaging software, I use a variety of digital brushstrokes, layers, and opacities to achieve the rich glazed colour relations found in my oil paintings. With digital painting I feel that I have achieved new compositional possibilities. This in turn has challenged my oil painting. For example, in one day, I can work in oil on canvas, in the computer on a digital painting, paint with acrylic into my digital paintings on canvas, or work with an industrial manufacturer to plan a digital painting printed on glass.”
Anda Kubis’ paintings feel like suspended moments that are temporarily captured in time, as their colourful forms bounce, collide, coalesce, and stretch across the canvas. Painstakingly finessed and layered, the intensity of the colour is created through thin yet full layers of oil paint that build to a glowing opacity. As Anda Kubis’ work is traditionally informed by modernist paintings, photography and digital image production, she makes images that pulse and vibrate through a considered choice of tonal values and combinations of natural and artificial colour. A seeming contradiction, Anda Kubis’ paintings capture an encroaching feeling of rapid change and instability through slow, deliberate and subtly off-kilter compositions. Consequently, the works present a visually alert space for contemplation, celebrating a mindset that marries a loose improvisational approach with careful decision making. As a result, the paintings sing.
As part of the New Abstraction movement in Canada, Anda Kubis continues her play with colour, space and illusion. Painterly and improvisational, Kubis’ work continues to capture a screen-like illumination from within the picture with light clusters and refractions across the surface of the canvas. Certainly, with degrees from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and York University, she is invested in crossing her artistic practice with design and architecture, material exploration, and her significant career in teaching. Anda Kubis is the Director of the Haliburton School of Art and Design.
Anda Kubis, on her digital paintings:
“I approach all of my work as an abstract painter. I do not draw but I push and pull the visual space of the painted picture plane around to find its composition with colour and brushwork. This I do with oil paint on canvas, or now, within the virtual space of a computer. Due to recent advances in digital imaging software, I use a variety of digital brushstrokes, layers, and opacities to achieve the rich glazed colour relations found in my oil paintings. With digital painting I feel that I have achieved new compositional possibilities. This in turn has challenged my oil painting. For example, in one day, I can work in oil on canvas, in the computer on a digital painting, paint with acrylic into my digital paintings on canvas, or work with an industrial manufacturer to plan a digital painting printed on glass.”
Anda Kubis’ paintings have been widely exhibited across Canada in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Her work can be found in private and corporate collections throughout North America, including Global Affairs Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, NYC, Bank of Montreal, Inter Pipeline, Calgary, Keg Restaurants Ltd., and Nordstrom, to name a few. As a result of a long-standing career, Anda Kubis’ work has been reviewed in Canadian Art Magazine and her paintings are also included in the publication, “Carte Blanche 2: Painting”, printed by Magenta Publishing for the Arts.
