What is your background?
I grew up in a small town, but I’ve always been drawn more to the countryside. That’s why, after graduating from university in Ostrava, I settled in Prague for 12 years, only to return to a small town again eventually. At the moment, I live and work in a small town in northern Bohemia, in Kostelec nad Orlicí.
Your painting style is figurative and often features robust figures that symbolize contradictory human or natural principles. How do you choose the subjects?
Robust material figures characterize my work, but it is not because of any love for antiquity, as some might think. It is more about a certain attraction to physicality and sculpture. Lately, I have been working a lot from photographs. I collect personal photos, mix them with images from the internet, or repaint existing sculptures. I also edit them with retouching apps that play with the object or my photo and transform it slightly. I often work from a reference, not a sketch, but a collection of images. During the process, I might lose interest in the initial subject. Then I start painting over and scraping off layers of paint, and the painting develops intuitively. I think I enjoy that more when the painting emerges by chance yet thoughtfully.
What are the central elements in your work?
The main motif in my paintings is the figure, or a pair of figures. I like playfulness, irony, and surrealism, and I try to bring those elements into my work. I often paint lovers in an embrace, in twisted poses, or in moments of inner pain. My painting is very introspective.
What role does color play in your painting?
A friend once told me that my paintings are good because they are „badly painted,“ that I don’t know where shadows and space should go or how to place colors properly so they work together. And that’s true. But my paintings are still very coloristic, and the space is formed mainly by color planes. I would like to paint in more muted tones, but I haven’t managed that yet; I feel more comfortable with color.
Could you tell me more about the work „Ateliér / Studio, 150×190 cm, oil on canvas, 2025“?
The painting Studio was created by repainting a photograph of me in my studio, taken four years ago by a photographer friend. I recently rediscovered it and wanted to rework it somehow, and that is how this painting came about.
What does your studio look like?
My studio is magical, haha. No, really. I have never had a studio just for myself before, so it is full of plants, order, and calm. It is located on the top floor of an old chateau, with windows facing west. It is an old building, and the only ones living above me are pigeons. So far, it is probably the nicest space I have ever had.
You were the frontwoman of the band „Like She.“ What do music and painting have in common?
I played at being a singer during university; we had an electropunk band. Back then, it was trendy to make art and have a band. For me, performing was incredibly stressful—the same kind of stress I feel before my solo exhibitions. But then the adrenaline kicks in, and it becomes a wonderful state. My relationship with music has faded since then. I think COVID stopped me from going to concerts, and I never really got back into it. But I still love dancing. I dance in my studio, sometimes record it, and post it on social media.
What feelings do you hope to evoke in viewers?
I mostly hope that my paintings – or any art people see – spark their imagination. My paintings are like books in that way.
What does your typical day look like?
Coffee, the studio couch, social media. Then I spend the whole day tuning music or podcasts for work; I don’t like silence while painting. I used to work in the studio for twelve hours straight, but now I’m happy if I manage eight. I take breaks to exercise or go cycling when the weather is nice. Movement really helps me clear my head.
What would you like to experience in 2026?
Professionally, I would like to leave sales in the hands of the Kodl Contemporary gallery, with which I am starting to collaborate. That means I won’t be able to exhibit in other commercial galleries in the Czech Republic, but that actually feels liberating. I would rather show in institutions, though that takes time. Next year will be a planning year. My partner and I want to move to the countryside into a house, so we’ll see how that goes. Maybe even a wedding, haha. Life isn’t only about work.
Pavla Malinová – www.instagram.com/pavla_malinova/, www.kodlcontemporary.com/en/artists/pavla-malinova/
Pavla Malinová was a finalist for the Jindřich Chalupecký Award for Contemporary Art in 2019 and has exhibited, among other places, at Frieze London (2022), Art Brussels (2020), and the Czech Center in New York (2025).
