7th International Fine Art Colony — Ulcinj on Canvas

In September 2023, I participated for the second time in the fine art colony Ulcinj on Canvas, held in Ulcinj. Returning to this context had a special meaning for me, as I received the award for best artwork at the same colony in 2019.

The work during the colony developed in direct relation to the atmosphere of the place. Rather than focusing on literal motifs, the process was guided by experience — the sea, light, silence, and the slower rhythm of late summer. The paintings emerged through gesture and colour, as a personal response to the environment in which we lived and worked.

This year, together with the same group of artists, we searched for an abandoned camp by the beach, a place where we had worked during the previous edition of the colony. After finding it, the camp once again became our open-air studio. Working in this setting allowed for a free and direct process, in close contact with the sea and the surrounding landscape, outside of formal structures.

Returning to Ulcinj and working with the same people confirmed for me the importance of continuity and shared experience. This second encounter with the place brought a calmer and more mature working process, where earlier experience naturally connected with the present moment.

The Ulcinj on Canvas colony remains an important part of my artistic practice, as a context where painting develops through a close relationship with place, time, and collective experience.

Location: Ulcinj, Montenegro
Year: 2019, 2023
Medium: Painting / Mixed media