Art is a reflection of society. Art adds meaning to the lives of individuals; it is the prime route of wonder and elegance to the world. Every living being, every tiny object, every element of nature and mankind has a story to tell. Often, the artist being sensitive and observant of one’s environment captures the reality in the most extraordinary way possible.
Ana Mardesic is one of such exceptional artists. Born and brought up in Croatia, this young and talented artist draws inspiration from her surroundings.
When asked about the message that her art work intends to convey, she said that it attracts her audience to catch a glimpse of every intricate detail of all the resplendent houses and stones that she draws. Each fragment of her art work narrates a story and she endeavors to represent the island “Vis”, the place that pertains to her roots in the best and most authentic manner possible. She claims that Vis Island is the source of her greatest inspiration. Her parents hail from this place. Her adoration of the streets and fascination with the stories that the surroundings convey encouraged her to capture every detail and showcase it through her artwork. Vis is a beautiful Croatian island located in the Adriatic Sea. It was once known for its thriving fishing industry and is now one of the attractive tourist destinations in Croatia.
Along with her inspiration, her idol is Zvonimir Mihanovic, a Croatian contemporary painter who was born in 1946. His painting also won the “Best of Show” because of the extent of realism it exhibited. His paintings also portray hyperrealism and /had been auctioned in galleries based in New York, Chicago, Aspen along with various other places.
The artist Ms Ana Mardesic aims to represent Vis and specializes in the use of colored pencils, graphite as well as oil colors. She makes use of her specialization in the areas of hyperrealism, photorealism along with realism in general. Hyperrealism is a genre of painting that resembles a high resolution photograph. It is considered to be a higher form or an advancement of photorealism i.e. a genre of art; in which artist tries to reproduce a photograph is most realistic manner possible in another medium. This aspect of art encompasses or binds in paintings, drawings and other graphic forms of media. The compelling aspect is the fact that Ms Mardesic is a selftaught artist; she had learnt all of the higher and advanced forms of art by her hard work and dedication. She has been drawing since her childhood years. However, she took art on a serious note and decided to build her career on this about three years ago. Then, she developed her style and approach, which is drawing old streets, houses and stones in a photorealistic manner. This young and accomplished artist had three solo exhibitions at the age of seventeen.
Over the course of the pandemic, she made use of her free time to enhance her skills. She believes that art is everywhere and it makes the world so much more beautiful. Being an art history student herself, she also believes that theory is as important as the practical. She studies the theory so that she can connect it with her art work. She wants to reflect whatever she has learned through her drawings.
Her sole message to all the artists around the world is, “Be you, strive for greatness and do a lot of practice!” Indeed, practice is the way to achieve greatness.