Who are they and why does their work strike the heart? We’ll tell you now)
Toma Stenko (b. 1980) is a Georgian-born artist, film director and fashion designer who graduated from St Martin’s. Her work is predominately dominated by themes of a romantic, sexual, maternal, forbidden, self, broken and new nature, as she likes the idea that love is a roller-coaster of emotions that we all share.
IK was born on January 1st, 2013 in London, where his parents had been working for some amount of time – his father in cinematography, and his mother – in design. When he was five, he started painting abstract figures, and spots on the canvas and making up titles for them, for example, “A disposed of TV which no one remembered to turn off.”
Nowadays, he has started to paint the real world – “Geese”, “Tulips”, “Melons”, “Bees”. He asks what he should do so that his “Melons” could smell, and “Bees” buzz.
IK is 9 years old, and he continues to fantasize and change the world.
Here is what Toma tells about her background and her way to art: “My life reminds me of a cloud, I’m always flying somewhere, the only things that change are sceneries, people’s faces, names of hotels, and the rest is an endless dialogue with beauty. As inspiration is spilled everywhere – in raindrops, the sound of the wind, the breath of the sea, everywhere. The most important and probably the most difficult thing is being able to feel it. To see the seen in the unseen, the infinity in the finiteness. I’ve always painted in my imagination – on the sand, stones, and at some point, I moved to canvases, and paper. When I studied at the renowned St. Martins School in London, one of my professors was the famous Louise Wilson. She was the person who suggested making a living out of the painting to me, but at that time I had other things on my mind.”
She unbelievably loves color. She like researching it endlessly, listening to it, colliding it, and every time she feels surprised at how little we know about it. The theme of love is something that moves her, it has thousands of shades, shapes, and states. This is why artists go back to it, just like hundreds of years ago. There are eternal themes, which you are just trying to reach, rethink, feel, hear, and maybe understand.
When they’re together they always paint on canvases, stones, walls, everywhere. Toma and IK travel a lot, and every time they go somewhere,
their workshop comes with them. Their suitcases and backpacks are always full of paints, canvases, paper, and brushes, which are very heavy.
Most recently, their exhibition “FRAGILE ANGEL”, curated by Ellen Nash, opened in Venice. Their Angels tell a story about love, acceptance, and hope – so fragile in the modern world. Venice is a perfect place for a project with a mission to create space for peace and reconciliation.
Fragile Angel embodies the universal power of Love and calls us to unify, as tomorrow is as fragile as ever.
“What a bloom of colors at this exhibition, you seem to bathe in them, colors hug you, you travel through magical worlds and meet angels, and amazing mother and son, Toma and Ik, become your guides through these dimensions and your translators…” Anna Shvets, TAtchers’ Art Management
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