Once infected with color and image, exalted for life

I experience the canvas as a film strip on which scenes inspired by the four basic elements alternate: water, fire, earth and air, reveals the Montenegrin academic painter in an interview for "Vijesti". Natalija Djuranovic.

Although also engaged as a curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Montenegro (MSUCG), where she worked on a series of notable exhibitions in the past year, Đuranović also presented her new cycle of paintings "Secret City" to the Budva audience, which she says is "a logical continuation of previous cycles, the same universal messages."

"In my artistic expression, I create atmospheres that, through balanced, vibrating layers, introduce the observer to a state of contemplation... The characters arise from a strong inner experience and have symbolic significance. Art is a process, a fluid state, a space that liberates, opens spaces into parallel worlds, invites introspection and reflection. The source of my creation is strong experiences. They gradually and spontaneously, sometimes stronger - sometimes weaker, create a work. The consequence of this is what is seen in each of my works," Đuranović points out, adding that he "does not strive for too much meaning", but that it will be determined by the complex context in which all the scenes "more or less spontaneously grew together as some vague association or reflection of what was experienced".

"My painting emerges from latent peace and staticity, immutability. The same universal themes run through all cycles. In the painting process, this is reflected through the play of composition, disappearance and emergence, as well as through the exchange of figurative and expressionistic expression," explains the painter.

Đuranović reveals more about his "Secret City" for "Vijesti", his starting point, process and outcome, but also about his curatorial engagement and what comes next in that field, contemporary art, the Montenegrin scene...

When was it created, where is it located and what is the “Secret City” like?

The cycle includes paintings from 2022 to the present day. “Secret City” is my world where relationships and laws are different than in this “real world”, it is a reflection of some virtual space-time reality with symmetry in the background, where there is neither beginning nor end. It is a filtered space of light, energy, a personal perception of the world and life in the harmony of a multifaceted Universe. The “real” world with a parallel, timeless reality, that was my basic idea and starting point.

“Secret City” is on my painting map of the universe. Like a window, a view of a scene from my city, each painting carries a different texture-structure, which emphasizes the harmony and balance of the scene. The window - a scene from the virtual world is experienced visual information that is important to me in building the painting as a projection in light or a mirror. All representations, all symbols are in motion, fluid. This is my designed world of reality or dream. A scene from the city in the eye of the observer evokes various sensations and a multitude of personal associations. The painting does not remain static - it activates the observer, invites introspective experience and joint participation in a new reality. The painting, as a materialized representation, is for me only media - a portal to an unknown dimension.

The artistic image as a virtual reality endlessly preoccupies me, in that domain I have also addressed some other, for me, important questions from the domain of my painting. In the process of painting, the image itself takes you into a new reality, as into a parallel world. The image itself will say what it thinks about itself, us, but also its author. Precisely because of this, the artistic image is already a reality in itself and an image of reality. The image is like a living organism with its own autonomy. Each cycle dictates a new experience and represents a new transformation. I never stay in what is already established and known, but I continuously strive for new experiences.

What matters to me is the light that marks the frames of the virtual world, like a projection in light or a mirror. In the imagined world of the virtual game that we witness, this world is very unusual, but deeply real.

Your paintings seem to be constantly changing shapes, figurative turning into abstract, expressive into calm, and the emotions are diverse, and all of this seems like a game that awakens a sense of freedom. Do you, during your creative work, transform yourself along with the canvas? What is the canvas for you at the very beginning of your work?

Certainly, seeking new experiences and experimenting, the painter transposes his inner world onto the canvas. For me, the whiteness of the canvas represents a space that opens up my imagination. I am provoked by the whiteness of the canvas. I intuitively indulge in the game of mixing colors. Nothing is certain. Experience, however, allows me to achieve a certain control and establish a kind of gravity that will maintain the balance of the scene and the integrity of the painting. I consider every creative shift, in terms of discovering new possibilities, a significant success.

I seek new experiences and experiment through the medium of canvas. Once infected with color and image, I become exalted for life. While painting, I try to maintain control over the image, to keep my initial idea from slipping away, to maintain it as a whole.

I am preoccupied with the problem of the autonomy of the image, which results in a new reality, spontaneity and surrender and play, because it directs me to creativity and spirit. I do not think about the technical execution of the idea and materials. I am carried by visual information - the idea, the experienced visual information. The atmosphere. There is only my personal recipe.

Art is an alternative world to escape from prosaic social reality, through artistic creation. The role of the artist is to establish harmony, order of things, to reconcile evil forces. The act of creation itself is more important than the result. I create something from something, I give form to that chaos, despite the absurdity and emptiness, I insist on meaning. I am carried by the impulse of creation. For me, the image is played out, sincere, spontaneous, not “done”. Art does not imitate reality, but creates its own dimension, space. The artistic act levitates between form, style and performance and becomes a process of liberation. Levitation as an artistic act appears as an internal process: things do not adhere to physics, they are drawn from visual information, memories, experiences, dreams... Our imagination is tied to a real experience or reality.

Art historians often describe your work as a search for archetypes, those first, primordial images that precede every word. What does that moment actually look like when you feel you've found what you're searching for?

By transforming the inner world of the scene, I maintain control. In the process of painting, I strive to establish a harmony that vibrates through the layers of color, which fill the imaginary space. I am fascinated by the autonomy of the image as a new reality and the spontaneity in working and letting the image guide and direct me into the creative, as a necessity for the realized work as an individual product, which seeks its own meaning.

In the process of painting, the image is snatched from the author and escapes control, seeking its own meaning. A work of art offers multiple levels of interpretation through personal experience: the more suggestive the image, the less we perceive 'reality', and the communication with the observer becomes immediate and strong. With the work itself, the painter - the author has left an impression in a positive sense. The very creation of the image is, even in relation to the author, her "personal matter".

For me, a painting is finished when it “stands” and offers communication and when, according to my intimate criteria, it is convincing. The painting warns me to put a period. At the end of the process, the painting finishes itself. Everything is in its place. The painting is finished when it seems convincing and suggestive. When it seems good as a whole and when it breathes. I paint a painting until I am satisfied.

I need a certain amount of time to look at and objectify what I have done. Through that flow, I see if any new spaces are opening up for me. Painting is not just a process of creating aesthetics, but also of research, transformation and communication with something higher. The act of creation itself gives me pleasure. Each painting is a different “window” that leads to a new world - to spaces of balance, inner peace, contemplation. In the process of painting, the visual experience creates an atmosphere for me: each painting carries a different sound-feeling. Creating a painting as a “new reality” through an activated substance - color is equal to creating a galaxy. What matters to me is where “it will take me” and open up some new questions and ideas.

In addition to painting, you are also engaged as a curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Montenegro. What are your curatorial preoccupations, themes and artists that particularly intrigue, interest and motivate you?

The themes and preoccupations are numerous, contemporary art is not static, it is active, evolving through the experience of the observer and interpretation. Art does not provide immediate answers, but invites exploration, asks questions. Contemporary artists today create in a fusion of different languages ​​and visions, with a free and unencumbered approach to art. Art should have a universal dimension, something in which others could also recognize themselves. I believe in the power of painting to shape opinions and react to social reality... Good painting and strong art constantly inspire me. I appreciate some world-class artists and their works. Some of them are: Alex Katz, Daniel Richter, Neo Rauch, Georg Baselitz, Peter Dojg and many others. Their works show how flexible and relevant figuration is throughout all eras of human existence. Contemporary figuration shows that painting is not a relic of the past, but a living space of thought and memory, a response to the same human need throughout different times. Real, authentic work respects the established principles in the creation of a work of art from the Renaissance to the present day.

The painting is alive and tangible, it carries the trace of time, gesture and presence. Figurative painting, figuration as the fundamental language of contemporary art remains and survives. The very act of creation, as physical and subjective, achieves a harmony that vibrates with the frequency of the planet.

How do creativity and curatorial engagement fit together in your case, and how much commitment do they require individually, and then together?

My creativity and curatorial engagement are in a positive dialogue. These are two forms of expression that sometimes intertwine and complement each other. Both practices require time, dedication and constant communication. Painting requires a lot of time and sacrifice, working in complete concentration, it is a process.

Do you think that your artistic activity is sometimes limited due to your involvement in the MSUCG?

No. I think that being a curator benefits me, complements my work, and keeps me awake. Every exhibition I've curated builds on my own artistic research.

How would you explain to readers the job, mission and engagement of a curator, and how is it most often perceived?

His/her engagement should not be neutral, but it should not be too dominant either. I think that every curator should feel the work of the artist, to synchronize with him/her and the energy of his/her work. Only from that feeling does an exhibition that has meaning emerge. The exhibition then seems natural, just as it should be. Successful cooperation between curator and artist is reflected in the necessary knowledge, experience, intuition and mutual trust. The curator's engagement is interesting and creative, because it stands between the artist, the institution and the audience. When the curator is an artist himself/herself, the understanding of creativity, technique, media and the concept of the exhibition's setting becomes clearer and more precise. Such an approach allows exhibitions to not only be thematically 'pure', but to truly live and communicate functionally and meaningfully with the audience.

What is currently occupying you from a curatorial perspective?

I have been working on a project for an exhibition of a German contemporary artist for some time now. Max Neumanna, one of the key figures in contemporary German figurative art today.

Given that you have personal insight and experience of our art scene from multiple levels, how do you comment on it?

Our domestic art scene is rich and diverse, and in many ways equal to contemporary global production.

What would you highlight that marked the year 2025 for you, from both aspects?

The year 2025 was particularly marked by my solo exhibition, which was successful and significant for the further development of my artistic practice, along with the realization of several other MSUCG projects that affirmed my authorial expression.

Can we expect your solo presentations in other Montenegrin cities soon?

My solo presentation can be realized in other gallery spaces, but in an expanded version. This would mean including works that have not been publicly shown before. Although I never insist on repeating the same cycle, I see this type of presentation as a living process, as an autonomous experience, and not a replica of the previous one.

What does art represent for you, what is the process itself, and what is the end result?

Art is a deep spiritual and philosophical exploration. It is not just a technical skill. The painting becomes a connection between the author and universal reality, and the author occasionally withdraws into a distance in order to view his work from a more objective perspective. Art can influence consciousness, provide space for spiritual growth and the opening of new dimensions of perception. The process of creation is a dialogue between the author and the painting itself. The works reflect not only the visual experience, but also the emotional experience. The painting pulsates, like living matter that shapes a new space of reality in which the observer participates, activated through subjective feelings and inner experiences. One world based on everyday tangible reality and the other abstract, almost transcendental. As a reflection of symbols, geometry and reflection, where the laws of the real world are not so relevant. Thus, the “Secret City” becomes a metaphor for unknown dimensions of life, for understanding the Universe. Portals in parallel worlds as doors that invite us to leave everyday life, dive into abstract space. Light not only marks, signifies form, but creates harmony within chaos, to create a perfect balance in which all elements intertwine in an eternal fluid dynamic. The image is not static, it invites the viewer to be an active participant in the creation of meaning.

Art is fire.

The liveliness of your works and the constant energy they radiate are striking. What is the inspiration that all this comes from?

With expressive gestures, dynamic forms, layered textures and a vibrant color palette, I achieve harmony and balance of visual elements. In this way, a space is created that vibrates and pulsates, an artistic world open to subjective interpretations. Art, i.e. a painting, is a trace that remains and survives even regardless of whether the work will cope with time. Artistic activity can be identified with the emergence, duration and effect of fire, because fire is not only a metaphor for creation, but a reality in which the essential essence of art is manifested. Art is fire.

Each painting emits a different sound or feeling within the vibration - acoustics. In the constellation of paintings I intuitively surrender to the game, in visualization, as a series of frames of my pictorial world of symbols, sublimated in the whole painting through the light windows - frames from a new world are accentuated, emphasizing the harmony and balance of the scene.

Visions, dreams, individual memories, experience - the inner perception of reality influence the color variations, the constellation of representations in the paintings, the vibrations emitted through the inner acoustics.

Perfect order in the chaos of the cosmos

“Secret City” seems to belong to both the inner landscape and the real space, what does that tell us?

The visualization of the painting is expressed as a series of frames of metaphorical interpretations of my artistic expression sublimated in the entirety of the painting through light. Light marks different entities in perfect peace and harmony, harmony of tones in the eternal dynamics of fluid. Everything in the painting is in one whole, because the world itself is in an endless connection of phenomena where the past, present and future exist simultaneously. In the process of painting, the visual experience creates an atmosphere for me: each painting carries a different sound-feeling.

The geometry of the universe as a metaphor for perfect order in the chaos of the cosmos. Celestial geometry in a philosophical and metaphorical sense represents the perfect order behind apparent chaos. Coded languages ​​(structures) in search of meaning. By entering parallel worlds, through the medium of painting in which a “secret level” opens, the images alternate as frames of an artistic position, and they have multiple durations, first while we observe them, and then when they are revealed to us gradually, within celestial geometry.

The important moment is when the image becomes convincing, when a message is extracted from it that communicates with the viewer. The work (as an argument for), the work is a trace and evidence like a footprint in the dust.