Ana Ksamit

Ana Ksamit Bio

Ana Ksamit is a Manhattanite by soul and temper. Raised on the Upper East Side in a Jewish family from Central Europe, she never liked this part of the city, nor the deep dissonances between her parents. As soon as she could she moved out and rented a small studio in Chelsea. The only thing she took from home, she says, is the love of knitting. Her grandmother used to knit for the whole family, and while occupied with it she would tell Ana Ksamit stories from the past with her thick slavic accent. Stories from the other side of the ocean.

Ana Ksamit is very independent and private. She doesn’t want her works to be labeled, categorized. She has her own group of followers and shows her work internationally but in a restrained way.

Anna Ksamit Artistic Credo

I work in acrylic because of its elasticity, delicacy and durability. The readiness of the acrylic paint for transformation, both in terms of form and texture, makes it an ideal medium for discovering the iconic meaning of the symbolism of the world that surrounds us. Color makes me happy and painting is my passion, oxygen for my creativity. I value color for its powerful symbolism and use it to communicate emotions and moods. Although the themes of each series of my paintings are different, color remains their constant theme.

Frequent travels inspired me with landscapes full of vibrant colors and various textures. I try to reproduce this in layers of transparently applied paint. I gave up the use of brushes, I prefer to pour liquid paint directly on canvas, press, smudge. Without the use of traditional painting tools, the picture is alive, allowing it to spontaneously flaw, bring out unexpected textures, reveal surprises.

Ana Ksamit art statement

Ana Ksamit can be almost ascetic in her artistic expression, confining to a certain decorative minimalism. Adequat, she says. But sometimes she is surprisingly dashing and daring, sumptuous and showy. “Like my baba’s knitting”, she says.

Ana Ksamit studied first humanities. Art, literature. She worked for many years as an English second language teacher. She got attracted to geometric abstraction by frequenting a circle of friends. Abstract painters. She began drawing, experimenting herself and finally studied painting. Anna Ksamit says, she rediscovered herself, her alter ego.

Ana’s profile at ONLY-abstract portal