Anna Mirkin and Mayan Prinz Vanitas 2020 ©Anna Mirkin
Anna Mirkin and Mayan Prinz Vanitas 2020 ©Anna Mirkin

“Breathe and keep your head up”

Name

Anna Mirkin

Profession

Visual artist, art director, costume designer.

Website

annamirkin.com

Anna Mirkin by Tom Marshak, 2020
Anna Mirkin by Tom Marshak, 2020

Where are you from?

Born in Moscow, grew up in Israel-Palestine, living in Berlin since almost 2 years.

Your style in 3 words?

Psychedelic, political, poetic.

Your weakness? Your strength?

They are the same thing, doing many things at once.

Anna Mirkin Hopes and prayers 2018 ©Anna Mirkin
Anna Mirkin Hopes and prayers 2018 ©Anna Mirkin

What makes you different?

Deep down we are all the same, it’s all just culture and concepts.

When did you decide to become an artist?

I loved painting ever since I can remember and I made my parents send me to art school at the age of 12.

What do you find most fascinating about your work?

My favourite part is imagining things and then having them come to life, if it’s a small line on a paper or a large-scale installation, it just feels like magic every time.

Anna Mirkin Best Day Ever 2020 ©Anna Wasilewski
Anna Mirkin Best Day Ever 2020 ©Anna Wasilewski

A few words about your favourite creation?

An anecdote: A couple of friends came to preview “Layer no 5” installation, and they were sitting on the neon plastic chairs and staring at the patterns on the walls. And one of them asked – But how did you make the wall look like its moving? – But the wall really was moving, it was made of paper and was breathing from the light movement of air in the room.

Someone else’s work that inspired or inspires you…

I love the work of Katja Nowitzka, the way she uses materials and images is just brilliant.

Who would you like to work with someday and why?

Music is probably the most influential art medium there is, so would love to create art, sets, and costumes for musicians I admire, such as Róisín Murphy, Lizzo, and PJ Harvey.

Anna Mirkin It was the first time I said it  2020 ©Anna Wasilewski
Anna Mirkin It was the first time I said it 2020 ©Anna Wasilewski

A new project coming up or an idea you want to work on?

I have been obsessing with plastic chairs and repeating patterns for a while, and will probably continue to do so. I will be exhibiting at Paper Position art fair with Almacen Gallery next week, and I have my first participatory performance coming up on the25th of September. It is called “Fake Vacation” and it will take place at Galerie Kuchling.

Finish the sentence „More important than my career is…“

My health

2021: Where are we going?

Hopefully a serious reassessment of values

 When the going gets tough…

Breathe and keep your head up

Put on your future vision glasses: What direction is our generation moving in, what will our world look like in 50 years?

Make Orwell fiction again.

Anna Mirkin view layer no 5 2019 ©Anna Mirkin
Anna Mirkin view layer no 5 2019 ©Anna Mirkin

What would you do if you could change the World?

Solve climate change. My childhood nightmares were mass fires and floods. And here we are.

If the universe is everything and it’s expanding, what is it expanding into?

The universe is a self-manifesting being, and infinity is created by infinity.

Tell us about your future plans…

Creating more participatory art projects. It brings randomness that makes art more like real life. And maybe one day be a ship captain.

Your city’s favourite spots?

KÖNIG GALERIE, beyond the wonderful artist they represent, I`m absolutely in love with their space. The combination of brutalist-church is so poetic, two such gloriously failed utopian ideas.

Last but not least: what is your favourite Song?

Schubert – Ave Maria, not in a religious way, it’s just beautiful.

One last statement please: „Wood or stone, gold or art?“

Water

Your #…?

#annamirkin