NMMA: What can you tell us about your latest series currently on display at the Josip Račić Gallery?
Nina Atević Murtić: The series currently on display is a spontaneous reaction to the themes I have previously dealt with. I have maintained a focus on movement across a pure surface. In my previous work, I delved into achromatic relationships, using indigo pigment as a non-colour, which allowed me to explore countless tonal nuances and glazes. I am drawn to pure abstraction within minimal narrative interventions, as well as the physiognomy of motion and movement. I replaced the intuitive movements within the hermetic aspect of a white surface with colour, examining it through frequency and physiognomy. Thus, colour became a narrative that accompanied gesture and provided context for subsequent events. I was curious about their relationship, how they influence one another, and how they emphasise and shape each other. My focus has remained on the dynamics between colour and form. These relationships parallel all occurrences surrounding us in the sensory and material world, both external and internal, personal and public.
NMMA: How do the colours in your paintings differ from those you choose for your attire or interior design?
Nina Atević Murtić: I have never associated the events on the canvas with the aesthetics of design or fashion, nor with any specific style. That is not the gamut that surrounds me. The colours are formed directly on the canvas through layered applications and explorations.
NMMA: Do you experience colours when listening to music? Which music would best reflect your painting?
Nina Atević Murtić: The music that relaxes me is the kind that happens at the right moment, that is experienced fully and authentically. I must confess that I have a fondness for classical music, which offers a broad spectrum of themes and performances. I love listening to music that is felt more than it is heard. John Cage was particularly adept at this. Kandinsky examined the relationship between music and colour, aiming to capture it on canvas. While I haven’t engaged in that myself, there are certainly times when music is recognised and deeply felt. Synaesthesia is a neurological phenomenon that connects the senses, which is why some individuals can visualise sounds, taste words, or see colours associated with specific numbers, letters, or tones… In this manner, sounds are experienced as colours. Each harmony possesses its own unique colour, just as each instrument does. Some composers are renowned for their synesthetic experiences.
NMMA: What type of music helps you relax, and which do you find irritating?
Nina Atević Murtić: The music that relaxes me varies with my mood, and I cannot say what irritates me since I consciously avoid it.
NMMA: What memories do you have of Heruc, where you collaborated with Goran Lelas as artistic director?
Nina Atević Murtić: I have fond memories of collaborating with Goran Lelas, especially during our time at Heruc. He was an extraordinary person, immensely talented and imaginative. Everything we worked on together was smooth and enjoyable. We complemented each other well, both as creatives and as people. We would draw together, brainstorm collections, have fun, and swap ideas. His style was playful, and I would later transform that into reality, giving form to all those wonderful drawings in the real world and adjusting them to the project and its possibilities.
NMMA: You’ve taken part in costume design projects. Which did you find the most challenging, and why? Which costume designer do you hold in high regard?
Nina Atević Murtić: Collaborating on costume design projects was filled with our creative and artistic moments. I was not involved in the operational aspects. We spent a considerable amount of time together, imagining how to bring our visions to life. His imagination and playfulness were limitless. We worked on productions by Paolo Magelli, Saša Broz, and Vanja Matujec, with the notably large and challenging “Aida” by Krešimir Dolenčić, a co-production with the Shanghai Opera and the New Jersey Opera. Goran’s fairytale for children and adults, as well as the later production Somewhere City, provided an endless source of inspiration and a delightful blend of curiosity, joy, and creativity.
NMMA: What is your favourite piece by Edo Murtić?
Nina Atević Murtić: My favourite piece by Edo Murtić is the one that adorns my wall. I appreciate his pen drawings, where he demonstrated both ease and virtuosity, often singing and joking while he worked. It was a pleasure to see him in the creative process and having fun. His various styles make it truly hard to pinpoint a single favourite from the many remarkable paintings. I would say I have many favourites.
NMMA: Do you often talk about art with your mother-in-law, the painter Goranka Vrus Murtić?
Nina Atević Murtić: I frequently discuss art with Goranka. She is highly perceptive to anything that provokes or unsettles her in any way. Our conversations cover a wide range of topics; while they don’t always revolve around art, they often lead back to it. She has experienced life through both her own art and her husband’s, and she has been part of an era defined by different ideals and experiences. In fact, we have a lot in common.
NMMA: You spend your summers in Palmižana, would you say your best ideas are born there?
Nina Atević Murtić: I wouldn’t say that my artistic ideas are specifically associated with my time in Palmižana, but it has had a profoundly formative effect on me. It was there that I discovered and experienced a complete freedom in appreciating beauty in every form. I grew up spending summers in an environment without electricity or water, immersed in an arboretum of indescribable beauty. Dagmar Meneghello shaped the environment and atmosphere, surrounding herself with wonderful people, particularly artists. Her incredible passion and love for art and her connections with artists are remarkable. Today, she possesses an astonishing collection of artworks and memories.
NMMA: Are there any other mediums in which you would like to express yourself?
Nina Atević Murtić: Absolutely. I am always creating and imagining new concepts. I have a plethora of conceptual ideas and planned works, but they necessitate a different structure and methodology. Unfinished and unexpressed concepts are always on my mind, but my interaction in the studio with canvas or any other two-dimensional form is what I find most accessible and enjoyable. Sculpture is also something I’ve been giving serious thought to. I may be preparing for a major leap forward.
Interviewed by: Lana Šetka © National Museum of Modern Art Zagreb
Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art Zagreb
