I ‘Beginning’
"Oh, and always remember ... you’ve got this!"
“Never worry about being obsessive. I like obsessive people. Obsessive people make great art”
Susan Sontag
Artist of the Week | Tata Kolesnik
Artist of the Week is a new series spotlighting emerging and underrepresented artists whose work deserves to be seen. Each week, I’ll share someone whose creativity speaks quietly but powerfully.
Tata Kolesnik (b. 1982) is a Ukrainian artist. After the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, she was forced to relocate to Germany, where she continues her artistic practice. Although she does not hold an institutional diploma, Tata received profound and rigorous education in the studio of renowned Ukrainian painter Eugen Bykov, structured on Renaissance principles of mentorship and mastery.
Her deep engagement with art history and the Old Masters shaped a distinctive visual language, where classical composition and color meet intuition and personal insight. Her work aligns with the direction of “Neo-Renaissance” — rooted in tradition, yet filled with contemporary and timeless meaning.
“I paint what I feel. My paintings grow from an inner garden — they are states, archetypes, and symbols. It’s an honest dialogue with myself and with those who truly listen. This is art that brings you back to your true self — warm, deep, and alive.” - Tata Kolesnik
Interview | Rowan Siddons - Artist and Founder of NoPlaceArt
Rowan Siddons is a Printmaker, Artist, Curator, and Installer, and No Place Art is the heartbeat of his creative journey. It’s not a gimmick but a genuine reflection of his exploration of place, non-place, and psychogeography during his printmaking studies—ideas that continue to inspire his artistic and curatorial work.
Founded to support emerging artists, No Place Art offers opportunities for growth through group exhibitions, awards, and connections. It’s a platform where creativity thrives, where artists can showcase their work, connect deeply with others, and take bold steps toward their future.
So Rowan, can you remember what first pulled you into making art?
Well, other than having a particularly creative family lineage: my mum's creative in the sense of having a background in graphic design, my dad's an insane potter, although I don’t speak to him anymore, my grandad was an amazing sculptor, my great grandfather was a painter - the rest of the lineage were composers, dancers, painters etc - so yeah, I guess it runs in the blood, haha. But that wasn't really what pulled me in… I guess I’d always been into making art, being creative in a multitude of ways, however, after having a tricky secondary school and sixth form experience, getting expelled from both, moving out, working as a lumberjack in the arse-end of nowhere and realising I had likely ruined my life, it was going back to college. I literally got in with 3 GCSEs and a couple AS grades - applying within the last two weeks… and managing to wrangle a place. Anyway, what pulled me into art was meeting Katrina Broadrib, one of the most inspirational, understanding, enthusiastic and down-to-earth teaching assistants on the foundation course. She taught me everything, everything I know about printmaking - I became the teacher's pet, albeit still with an annoying yap that struggled to shut up! She was the first teacher that really managed to capture my attention, and knew how to manage me. She was so knowledgeable, such a character, and just really guided me. Yeah…just a beautiful person. She was probably one of my first ‘angels’ in life. I do what I do now to prove to my ‘angels’ that they didn’t waste their time on me… So thank you Katrina for being you, and guiding me on my journey.
I've seen you talk a lot about psychogeography in connection to your art. Talk to me about that. What is that for you, is it like a deeper presence in the art, or is it something about escapism or… what's it about?
Psychogeography for me is about learning and positioning yourself within your surroundings. So, it's like looking for things that stick out, elements that can give you a reference as to where you are. An example, when I travel around a city or a new place, a new location, my brain looks for these landmarks - way-finding, placement symbols, and it's those landmarks that I find that help me to situate myself in a particular environment. It's like creating guideposts for me. Then when it comes to the actual making of my work, what I’m doing is, I am bringing all these elements together to create a sort of mental map of either ‘the walk’, or place that I have traversed. However, like with any memory, over time, even a short time, they become dream-like and begin to disappear, or elements are less crisp - unless it really stuck out. Kinda like those real vivid dreams, but it’s only a short clip. My use of colour also assists the elements of psychogeography, as it helps me to create an emotion, which gives reference to how I felt as I travelled along each path.You know, in a particular place, you might be lost, right? But I find when you're lost, you actually start to find yourself - because, maybe in a sense of survival, you begin to create these things, a way of finding different elements, within the landscape. And more than likely, each person will find different things to help them find their way, so each of my artworks are very personal to my experience.
Talk a bit about creative-block, is that something that you've experienced? Is that something which is troublesome for you? Or do you see creative blocks as just an integral part of that rhythm of creating and making?
I create when I'm inspired. So if I'm not inspired, I won't create. It's got to come naturally. There's no point in forcing the source - but I guess that’s more with music. But with that said, I think there’s a magical thing with art, etching and printmaking, and that it is all about the chance-accidents, for me anyway. It also runs into my conceptual understanding of psychogeography, in the sense that you never know what you're gonna find when you're walking or travelling around. That's the same, that same element of chance-happenings when you're creating etchings, or in printmaking, and you sort of go with that and you work with it, you don't try to control anything. It's all out of your control, so you should just sort of roll with the punches in that process of creating, you know? With regards to creating art, having creators-block - you just gotta do it… see what happens. Because more than likely - if you keep going, you are going to inspire yourself, and find inspiration in actually doing it!
I'm sure you must have things which you might label as being a failure. Do you feel that ‘failing’ is somehow essential to the process of producing good or great work?
Well, it always happens that the artwork you like least turns out to be somebody's favourite, and your favourite is not always everyone else's favourite. Art is subjective, isn't it? So I always try to have the mindset that whatever is made, is made for somebody, somewhere. But it might be that person needs to find it - people have got to find it. And it’s with that mind-set that I want to help other artists find those people, especially because I’m fortunate enough to meet new art collectors every week!
So do you feel that as an artist you have a responsibility for what others think of your art. Do you have a responsibility to that ephemeral thing called truth?
As an artist, you have a responsibility to tell whatever your truth is. Be authentic. Be honest. Allow whatever creativity is within you. However it is defined. However it comes out - you should just allow it to be free. Who actually cares really? The only person truly caring about you, is you. You have to make yourself happy, and being authentic and truthful to yourself is the most relieving thing you can possibly do. And guess what?! People feel it, and magnetise to it. So be you, always. And within your art, it's just about allowing your truth to come through in whatever way it might be, ultimately - just experimenting with it, and having fun. It's about allowing your inner child to be released and keeping it like that. It's almost spiritual - you’ve gotta allow it to flow, you’ve got to allow it to come out and try not to control it too much. Like I said before - ultimately, I think that's what people need to do in life, just to allow it to be, don't judge it and just roll with it. Be you and inspire, and give space to those around you to do, and be the same. Just try not to be an arsehole, haha.
You talk quite a bit about the role you feel you have in supporting others. So how do you manage to balance that drive to be supportive and helpful towards others and your own creative process?
Let’s be honest, I'm not making art right now. I haven't made art since my last residency in Luxembourg in 2023. So, for me, it's about time and a place. I know at some point I'll be able to make art again, but at the moment I’ve got to concentrate and focus on my other creative endeavours you know. And, I'm loving it. I absolutely love collaborating, connecting, networking, getting creative within the business realm, and finding ways to support, expose and network for other people. I find it so much easier to reach out to people, because my goal is purely for others, so I find it easy to do it for others. Therefore, that is the spark - and that spark is banging No Place Art. The spark that created No Place Art is literally about networking to create opportunities for artists who struggle to network themselves or struggle to be seen and I just feel like maybe if I can help - I will and I should. I think it’s because I have a little bit of ‘no shame’ when it comes to this, and I can reach out and just be like - "Yo, do you want to get involved?". And to be honest, I think even if I wanted to make art at the moment, I just don’t have enough time. Not with curating, installing, and organising this big exhibition!
No Place Art actually started quite a few years ago, didn't it? So, I wonder how that idea has changed from when you had the idea, to where you are now? How has No Place Art developed for you?
Originally it was just exhibitions. Like the three exhibitions that I did in 2018, 2019 - they were more about exposure, as I had opportunities to take over some spaces. As I've gone through the last seven years, after my master's, I've noticed how tricky it is to navigate the artworld, find clients and gain opportunities - especially with the amount of people that apply to things (a lot of the time) don't get in. There are so many artists, and a lot of opportunities for sure, but again, there are so many artists! So now, really what I am building, is a real community of artists and wanting them to find and connect with other people in the community. Whether that be collectors, art organisations, other communities within the wider art community or help artists to find hope and faith in their paths - and just be a decent, transparent guy within the art space. Hopefully, I am bringing in that extra opportunity. Working on collaborating with all these awesome people, to create further opportunities for more and more artists. I'm basically creating what I would want to find as an artist myself.
So what you would wish No Place Art to be, as it gets more visibility and more profile. What is it that your hope for it?
My hope is pretty simple; to help artists find opportunities, find clients and meet people who will help guide or champion them for what they do. I really want to connect people with others that I've connected with, and let them have free reign to do whatever they want. I want to let those people to meet and go wherever they want to go together. It's about being something like a ‘big body of water’, where there are all these rivers feeding it, where these connections and pathways can lead to, and ultimately we meet in the ‘big body of water’. Then, they can all go off and do their own things - if you know what I mean? I just want to create a hub of creativity and support.
So what bit of advice do you wish that you'd been given when you were starting out? And would that be the same as the advice you might give to people early in their creative journey?
Life is doing whatever it wants to do at the end of the day. You think you can control it as much as you think you can - but you can't. So many things can happen, so many things will get in the way, so many things will be presented to you - and at the end of the day, it’s about taking those opportunities. It's about having your wit; kind of like having hope and a faith that things are going to be okay, and just making sure that whatever you want to do is always at the forefront of your mind. Because, when it's present in your mind, you are able to see the opportunities clearly. Which means that you can act on those opportunities, sending you down another path. If you can constantly keep that idea and that thought in your brain, you will see them very obviously, and then you can work with that to better your future. Stay focussed on what you want, and the rest will present itself to you. Oh, and always remember and know that you’ve got this!
One To Watch | Conversation with a Native Son: Maya Angelou and James Baldwin
Just a little something I’ve found from me to you
There are limited conversations readily available on the glorious World Wide Web where two — and I don’t use this word lightly — geniuses meet for a thoughtful and meaningful exchange. Like many people, I enjoy a good podcast; try as they may, podcasts will never match the charm, delicacy, and impact of a conversation such as the one Baldwin and Angelou share here. I urge each of you to watch as much of this as you can. You will not regret it.
Final Line | Lost by David Wagoner
What better to end than a poem
Lost
Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.
David Wagoner (1999)
Thank you for reading, Truly!
I hope to build more than a newsletter, a worldwide community of artists, romantics and the curious. A place for inspiration, information and a reminder as to why we make anything at all.
If anything has inspired you in this edition, please share! It may inspire others too.
If you’ve made something you’re proud of, send it over!
I want this to be a community-built space, so get in touch, share and let’s build something great!
As always, Big Love
Alex