Wien Kunst
Cluj-Napoca

Interview with Tincuta Marin

Tincuța Marin was born in Galați, Romania. Now she lives and works in Cluj-Napoca. Tincuța has five pets, four cats named Fun-fun, Dimitrie, Orlando & Rumpumpel and a dog named Giorgii.

When looking for inspiration, what resources do you turn to?
I don’t really know. I do a lot of sketches, so I have many, many sketches… that’s the starting point. Sometimes I start from here, from all my sketches and change the whole idea instantly as I start to paint. Then I continue those sketches in different works. I love to be free in my practice. I improvise a lot and it is great fun. Sometimes I also do sculptures out of clay that become models for my still-life works. I also use these sculptures to make stop motion videos, which then become sketches to my paintings. As I have already told you: it’s great fun. My pet dog Giorgii always tells me what to paint – he is my inspiration.

Tincuta Marin, The Monster, 189x190cm, oil on canvas, 2021
Tincuta Marin, The Monster, 189x190cm, oil on canvas, 2021

How do you choose your topics?
This whole world of monsters and funny creatures simply comes to me… it’s the fight of good against evil, like in our daily lives. I paint every day. I sometimes paint dreams, or fragments of dreams. I envision myself as Bigfoot and Giorgii is the dinosaur – remember, „in the world of dinosaur, stars are green“.

How would you describe your paintings?
They are witchery and magic.

What do people really have to know about you?
I love to drink coffee and every morning I go to my studio on „Happiness“ street.

The artist statement (written by Eugen Roșca and Daiane Pop)
Tincuța Marin’s world is abundantly embedded with fantastic lively characters convoluted in a continuous struggle displaying the potential of what good and evil can bare. Although her storytelling consists of plenty unhumorous matters, one can say she also paints for the jest of it with unconstraint ease making the canvases „fly“ in front of her eyes (given the impressive quantity of works realized in such a short time span). Her main persona, a hero, colored in bright warm yellows, encompasses a solar creature always found in a different conjuncture, mostly in a state of fight or flight. His weapon of choice: the dagger. Flattened surfaces entangled with condensed areas of vigorous colors reflect the dynamic between the strain and release states found in the character’s journey. The apparent primitive appearance of Bigfoot relates to a long history of animal belonging, while the aura represents the divine dimension man can reach by assuming the godlike features of the gifted Creator. Informed by Romanesque and Renaissance sources, arched doors and windows are an abundant motif in the way she represents architecture, and if you would have to guess (considering the remaining surroundings of the compositions), there’s a pretty good chance that Picasso and Picabia played an important role in her developement.

Tincuta Marin, Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe in Bigfoot’s world,49x685,5cm, oil on canvas mounted on wood, 2019, courtesy Jecza Gallery Spark Spatnd P1
Tincuta Marin, Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe in Bigfoot’s world,49×685,5cm, oil on canvas mounted on wood, 2019, courtesy Jecza Gallery Spark Spatnd P1

Although it can be easily confused, not all painters love to paint. Some of them struggle. In the writer’s conception, or better said, out of inference, the artist in question has an insatiable love for the craft of painting.

What comes after the SPARK Art Fair Vienna? Do you have any other exhibitions planned?
You will see, the surprise is always better! My first stop after Jecza Gallery’s solo show at Spark is a group show in Sweden, curated by Carmen Casiuc, at CFHILL in the beginning of September alongside other surprises.

Tincuta Marin – www.instagram.com/tincuta.marin/