Cleveland-based artist Stanka Kordic‘s exquisite and ethereal oil paintings gracefully blur the line between figurative art and absolute abstraction. With a penchant for portraiture and a fascination with female subjects, Kordic's oeuvre predominantly portrays beautiful women and young girls.
Spanning studies of solitary women, snapshots of children, and precious depictions of mothers and daughters, each piece offers a glimpse into the lives of the individuals. Whether appearing to pose for the piece or wistfully gazing elsewhere, each figure's face is full of life and emotion, engaging the viewer and solidifying Kordic's lifelong passion for portraiture. “My interest in painting people has been there from my earliest days of mark making,” she shares on her blog. “I can't even remember a time that a face, or a person hasn't been somehow depicted in what I drew as a kid. This never occurred to me as a direction, until people around me noticed it. My natural bent I guess.”
In addition to her many muses and tried-and-true subject matter, Kordic also paints expressive and equally emotive backgrounds. Many of her pieces appear to be set outdoors—as indicated by colorful fields of flowers, shimmering bodies of water, and swarms of delicate petals floating through the breeze—while some feature abstract backdrops that make pinpointing the site of each picture difficult. Often washed in blended tones and dotted with peculiar pops of bright color, these non-figurative backgrounds further emphasize Kordic's otherworldly approach to art.
Kordic's painting process has been elegantly immortalized in a short film by Jerry Mann. Be sure to check out the artist in action below.
Stanka Kordic: Website | Instagram | Facebook
h/t: [Adventures of Yoo]
All images via Stanka Kordic.
