Deana Nastic – Invisible Brush
No one thought the work of Toronto painter Deana Nastic could get any better — until she picked up a camera.
Deana Nastic keeps giving us things to get excited about.
The Belgrade-born artist came to Toronto in 1992 and has long since won the hearts of the refined with her haunting watercolour portraits. But this spring, she’s debuting the next chapter of her work: Invisible Brush, her first experimentation behind the camera. And the title of the series speaks volumes.
When dabbling in watercolour, Nastic dubs her technique “wetting” — the act of employing loads of water to create a spontaneous and intricate arrangement of lines, shadows and colours, almost letting the canvas take on a mind of its own. “Happy accidents,” she calls them. With a masters degree in fine arts, she spent years orchestrating this very unique brand of beautiful, but when she found a camera three years ago, she realized she had the opportunity to continue her work in an unexpected way. Over the course of three years, she used her camera to develop a unique look that still spoke the language of her paintings.
“My photography became very painterly, very fluid,” Nastic explains. “Using certain movement and light I create this sort of bleeding effect that’s reminiscent of my paintings.”
The result is Invisible Brush, a moody dance between photography and watercolour. Nastic plans to unveil the series, which features iconic Canadian model Yasmin Warsame, at Yorkville’s Izzy Gallery on March 30.
“These images challenge the boundaries of the traditional photographic medium,” says Roxanne Lowit, New York-based celebrity photographer. “Deana’s vision takes me on a voyage in a universe of mystery through the feminine harmonies of dynamic silhouettes.”
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