It was one of those amazing Halloween parties (2009) hosted by Teddy Wong where Anca and I first met.
I wasn’t sure if she was a hot lingerie model or just a wild girl from South America. Of course, I was wrong on both assumptions (never assume – she is hot though). Born and raised in Bucharest, Romania and drawing since she was just a little girl, her art is the core of her day to day. Anca resides in the West Village of New York City and gathers inspiration from her environment. As a world traveler, her environment constantly changes, which provides the mental canvas for her work to later be transferred to the physical canvas.
The colors of her palette (artistic piece in itself) which have created many works
She formally started painting about five years ago. She says “I went on since then painting life in color. I am inspired by nature, travels and the joy of life” Which is a beautiful and artistic way of explaining it I think. Her latest inspiration was from her weekend in the Hamptons. At first glance, I was confused by the painting as it looked like a mish mash of color and circles. Then she explained it to me and everything became extremely clear.
The “Hamptons Blur”
The piece above starts in the bottom left corner which is New York. The highway begins to circle around the canvas from there and over bridges until it reaches the bottom right corner or “The Hamptons.”. Within the circle you will see various oval pockets depicting experiences. Towards the right middle center there are playing cards from a game Anca taught to guests. Just to the right of the cards there is an umbrella for sun and a swimming pool from the house where she stayed. Below the cards to the left are people around a table at a nightclub and towards the bottom right of the painting there are boats in a marina. Small visuals of memories or experiences all transferred in color to the canvas. Hence, she has painted life in color.
Anca poses in front of her latest masterpiece – although she looks like a piece of art herself!
She classifies her work as “Abstract-Surreal-Expressionist” – and admittingly gathers a very small portion of her art inspiration from a few ice cold beers. Perhaps I can get Heineken or Peroni to sponsor her (mental note to self). Anca has shown mainly in private lofts around Soho, Studio 39, Midtown Art Gallery and various shows at event spaces. She is mainly comissioned to do works for private clients, such as her latest piece above “Hamptons Blur”, where the client specifically asked for “something in her style”. She has had dozens of pieces comissioned and more than 10 shows in the last 5 years.
A little inspiration goes a long way…
For the immdiate furture, Anca will begin making larger pieces and wants to work with lights on her pantings for new next show. She was not specific about what types of lights, strobes, projected or some other variation, but I’m sure it will be an eye opener. Her smaller project lately has been Iphone cases. She paints her art work on the cases and sells them herself to various customers. Kind of neat thing for someone who may not be able to afford her much larger pieces which sell for substantially more than a weekend in the Hamptons (unless you commute to and from by helicopter and have a chauffeur).
Inspiration at work
Back in the city on her rooftop I found a nice little piece on a table. Her friend in the building had asked her to cover the wooden table in a water proof coating. I guess she is the maintenance woman as well right? In actuality, her friend knew she painted and thought she might have a clear coating, nothing more. Of course she went to work in her own way and designed a lovely scene on to the surface of the table, based on the view from her rooftop. See below.
Painted table top that is also “waterproof” in her design – based on the rooftop view
Rooftop view with hammock and skyline – same as on table
Another view of the rooftop, Anca and “Hamptons Blur”
Quite amazing to have a functional piece of art as a table. She is painting everything it seems! And how lucky is the building owner to have someone sprucing up the place to make it look more artistic? Very fortunate I think.
To summarize, a very smart and attractive young woman who is full of confidence, natural beauty, elegance, talent (forgot she could paint for a second), an eye for color and able to translate that color of life onto the canvas (did I mention she looks hot in a bikini? I know, I’m trying to be professional…) depicting an experience. Below, I hope you enjoy some images of some of her other latest pieces.
