An interview conducted by Gloria BERCEANU

I met Mihaela Coandă one day in September, where else than in an art gallery. I discovered a diaphanous, elegant presence that captivates at first glance, like the characters in her works, imaginary beings made in a strong, firm touch that contrasts the pastel, almost faded background. She is an artist in a continuous search, exploration and development of the artistic self.
Starting from the favorite element of her art, windows that seem to lead nowhere, a dialogue “beyond the unknown” began.

Gloria Berceanu: Who are you, Mihaela Coandă?

Mihaela Coandă: I was born in Craiova in 1999 on a May evening. I also grew up here and studied fine arts at the Marin Sorescu art high school. After that, I left the South and headed northwest, going to study painting for five years at the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca. I am currently an emerging artist, and my visual practice is shaped around painting.

G.B.: To what extent has your academic experience influenced your artistic practice? Was choosing your university a crucial moment in the development of your style?

M.C.: Yes, it was a crucial moment. I knew about the phenomenon of the Cluj school: it is very visible on the international scene of contemporary art. So, it didn’t matter that I was going to travel long distances on the Cluj-Craiova train. I really wanted to get a certain painting recipe, so to speak. Oh, and I have to admit…I fell in love with the city of Cluj-Napoca. As for developing the style, it was hard to find a style. I think that the beach is full of influences on the faculty (in general), and the teachers have a big input in this whole thing, as well as the workshop colleagues. I believe the art student needs diversity; he must make reproductions after the great artists and go to good and not-so-good exhibitions.

After I had grown up, I started drawing clothes. I had notebooks full of ideas for clothing creations. I remember that until I entered high school, that’s what I wanted to be: a fashion designer.
I still remember how determinedly I said that I was going to be an artist, not knowing what it really meant, of course. I think the circumstances in my life were such that I would not give up the desire to make art, regardless of its form. So, I can tell you that we wanted each other. I hope we don’t fight anymore, or worse, divorce each other.

GB: What message do you want to convey through your art? Should viewers understand something about you, about them, or is the message more of a personal one?

M.C.: I resort to intuition and sensitivity; for me, it is a journey in itself and will be quite a long journey. I would, however, leave a few keywords that I think about when I paint:
Optimism, shape, color, amorphous, dreaming, waking, life, death, good, bad, unknown, metaphysical.

G.B.: During the creative process, do you ask yourself how the public will interpret your works?

M.C.: The artist has a responsibility towards the viewer, but this thought would inhibit me in the creative process. Then, I am concerned with the technique and the development of the ability to paint and with what I feel or want to express without thinking about the public’s interpretations. Afterwards, it just has to be you and the artwork. When I put the works together, finished or not, that’s when I think about it.

G.B.: You often add bizarre figures or imaginary beings to your works. What is their meaning, and how do they fit into the world you are creating?

M.C.: Watercolor opened the way for me to these imaginary beings. I was in the third year of my undergraduate degree. It was a spontaneous game for me, exploring watercolor and training my creativity.
Later, the animal figure dominates the field in almost every painting but as an intruder. What is he looking at the window? What is he looking for after the vase? What is he looking for on his hand? Isn’t that something you run away from, some fear? Maybe it’s you, metamorphosed and in a constant state of wakefulness.

GB: What role do emotions and inner states play in your creation? How do you convey them through painting?

M.C.: It depends on what I’m painting. Some of the portraits I’ve done are the most emotionally charged, so I rarely paint them. During the process, I try to take care of the people I paint because they are people I care about very much.

G.B.: The contemporary artist has unlimited mediums to choose from. For you, oil painting seems to be the fundamental medium you choose to express yourself. Why?

M.C.: All painting mediums are special in their own way, but it depends on how the painter handles them. I started to paint in oil for the first time just when I started college in 2018. Since then, I think I have not renounced oil colors because of the spontaneous way in which I can create certain opaque or transparent effects. Oil painting is slippery and mysterious, and you don’t know how far you will go with it. But I also like the smell because it reminds me of myself in relation to the painting, the faculty workshop in the central park, and that new beginning in my life that I remember with love and longing. I also tend towards the territory of watercolor, watercolor painting has no weight, and animal figures come out more delicate to me.

G.B.: Where does the concept of a new work begin, from the idea or source of inspiration to the completion of the work?

M.C.: When I want to start a new work, I take inspiration from my other works, most of the time. And that’s good. A harmonious bond is created between them, and I feel more stable. In college, it was hard for me to maintain such a pace.

GB: When do you know you have finished a work?

M.C.: I am not easily satisfied when it comes to my works. This is neither good nor bad. Intuitively, I can tell which ones are ready and which ones aren’t. There are paintings that I abandon for a while so that I can see them another time with different eyes because I know that they still lack something, and I don’t want to insist on them if, at that moment, I have nothing to offer them. I start other works until then, then come back to them. It also helps me to be away from them physically. Before I go on a short or long trip, I take pictures of them and analyze them when I’m on the train or plane, I drink another coffee, and another idea comes to me.

GB: How do you find inspiration when faced with creative blocks?

M.C.: I learned not to force myself to paint if I don’t feel like it. From my point of view, that period of creative blocks is a significant one, and it’s okay to have them, but not for very long periods. Inspiration can come with incredible force after a block, but to find it, I choose to go to an exhibition or spend a few hours in an art museum; going through the filter of history helps me a lot. Also, traveling really charges my batteries, especially if I’ve spent precious time dedicated to documenting.

GB: What are your plans/options for your artistic career? Are you working on any specific project at the moment?

M.C.: The present dictates the future, so what matters to me now is focusing on my studio work. I am currently preparing a new series of works for a Solo Show that will take place at Himera Gallery in Timișoara.