Q 1. The Name, could you tell us a bit about your name moholinushk? Where did that come from?
A The artist name – moholinushk – is the contraction of Moholy-Nagy (the last “y” is not pronounced), the Bauhaus artist I have admired since so many years and my nickname, Nushki. When I started to get some encouragement for my drawings, I secretly hoped to become as good as Moholy-Nagy while keeping my own line. I started playing with the name, first Moholy-Nushki, changed the middle y with an “i” then didn’t spell out the last “i” and it became moholinushk. The name itself has its own inner balance with the “i” in the middle and two small circles in the first half.
Q 2. Toko Shinoda, you’ve mentioned Japanese artist Tōkō Shinoda as one of your inspirations, as an active artist who is over a hundred years old, would you say we can all learn something from her?
A I wish we could all learn something from Toko Shinoda.
During the last public interview she gave at the occasion of a large exhibition in Tokyo (103 views of Toko Shinoda, Tokyo, October 26 – November 4, 2013), which was organized for her 103rd birthday, she said: “at my age (103) to paint a line is like a dream. All my life has been a kind of dream.” Personally, what I learn from such a lady, still actively creative, is that it is really up to you to follow and live your dream as long as you can while still keeping moving forward. Maybe it is an important thought for someone like me who started quite late in her life to draw!
Toko Shinoda never belonged to an art movement, she kept her independence. She even mentioned that through the freedom she had when working in New York, she developed more self-confidence in her art. Her way to be perseverant, to go behind the borders imposed on her as a Japanese lady, and to keep sending signals to incite the spectator to think when looking at a line, inspired me and makes me stronger in my artistic objectives. It is not so much the art of Toko Shinoda, which is a source of inspiration but much more her relationship to her own artistic creativity and her approach to her creative life, having the will and the courage to continue improving at a very advanced age.
Q3. West Bengal, is it true that you spent a considerable amount of time in West Bengal, India? What was that experience like?
A Yes, I spent a large part of my life in Bengal, both parts, West Bengal in India and Bangladesh. I first went as a student of social anthropology, doing fieldwork and spent a year in a village at the border between West and East Bengal. This first year was just the beginning of a period of 15 years I spent in Bengal. Bengal was much more than a research topic; it was an important growing period, it influenced a large part of my personal development and was even my first professional assignment.
I fall in love with the colors, the lights, the landscapes and the people. More important was the mind’s enrichment due to intercultural encounters with people from completely different backgrounds and living under other societal norms. I learn from them the importance of certain simple values, long forgotten in my European context. Besides all the personal memories, Bengal is still in my heart through its abundant modern literature, young filmmakers, architects and quite a lot of creative moves.
Q4. The circle is a recurring theme in your work, what is it about this geometric shape that makes it so versatile?
A As you say in your question, the circle is a versatile geometric shape per se. It is not only immediately present in the nature, earth formation, tree trunks, water rings, shells etc., but it has been used as a visual metaphor all around the world, in art, religion, technology, architecture, philosophy, sciences, language. The circle is largely used in the representation of natural and artificial phenomena as well as of different domains of knowledge.
The presence of circles in my daily life is overwhelming. In my art I am inspired by the visions, events, stories, experiences of my mundane life, the circle (s) is always present.
When I draw, I start with the main circle and organize the other elements around it! Sometimes if I try on purpose to give up on the circle, once the drawing is finished, I discover that there is somewhere a circle, more or less prominent. The circle through its metaphorical meaning and its overwhelming presence everywhere is, for me, an obsessive shape.
Q5. Japanese Art, We are big fans of Japanese art and its general attention to detail, What do you think draws so many people towards it?
A I am asking myself if the general attention to detail we, non-Japanese, see in Japanese art, is not for a part a western interpretation of something else!
When we look at Japanese art, handicraft, architecture, design, fashion, Japanese traditions and rituals, Japanese cuisine, we as non-Japanese are fascinated by all these delicate details. They reflect an unexpected and unreachable perfection in the functionality, in the esthetic and in the form. I think that this unreachability of such perfection is what draws so many of us towards it.
What we, non-Japanese, consider as perfect is not, for Japanese artists, artisans, architects, the result of a search for perfection. It is much more the result of a search for harmony. This inner harmony is given, on one side, by asymmetrical and irregular arrangement of the details and on the other, through a fine balance in the choice of the details.
The concept of “Harmony” is culture based and difficult to define. Some of the details, which may appear for non-Japanese very disturbing, even bad taste, awkward at first glance, fascinate then because they are no longer perceived isolated but in their balanced context. These contradictions are again source of fascination for non-Japanese.
Q6. Bauhaus movement, if you could mention one aspect of the Staatliches Bauhaus movement that has had an impact on your art, what would it be?
A The Bauhaus movement is from my point of view, important for the history of modern art in Europe and in the USA. It was a transition period between traditions and modernity. It was the beginning of the 20th century. It developed a new approach to creativity and art, very much comprehensive, taking into account different domains – painting, handicraft (ceramic, weaving, furniture, design), photography, dance, music, and theater. It created a new way of life, seeking for new social forms, introducing a different pedagogic approach to the art academy (the Art academy was for the first time open to women, who became well recognized artists). It was a new life style.
As I mentioned it at the beginning, the Bauhaus artist who had the strongest impact on my art is Laszlo Moholy–Nagy. From very early, he was a visionary, searching for new forms of expressions in art. He was a painter, photographer, filmmaker, designer, and developed the photogram. In every form of art, looking for abstraction of the reality, he found this fine balance between geometrical elements.
Q 7. After a long day in the studio, how does moholinushk enjoy after a long day in the studio?
A Usually after a long day in the studio, I need to move and if possible outside. It depends very much of the season and of my mood, sailing to feel the water and the wind, long walks in the forest and the hills around, for the colors, the serenity of the landscape.
If the weather is cold and humid and doesn’t allow outdoor activities, I choose one of the books I haven’t yet finished… start to think of the new series of drawings, or of the visions and views I collected during my last trip.
If I am frustrated because the day was not very creative, I would be going to an exhibition, or seeing a good movie at the film library, or just plan my next trip.