Spotlight On: Eszter Katona
Ezster describes herself as ‘a very motivated, ambitious self-taught artist’, after not fully exploring her artistic passion until her early twenties she was inspired to get back into drawing by the support from her equally artistic family. Despite lacking the confidence to go to art school, Eszter jumped back into the art world and became a tattoo artist, as well as exploring more traditional art types.
Eszter with her piece ‘Safe Place’
From the ‘silly to the deeply melancholic’, Eszter’s work uses a range of creative mediums and techniques in order to create something new and different each time. Her work does not conform to one singular style, instead it is constantly changing in relation to what feels right in the moment.
“Our life and things around us affect us, we are constantly changing, therefore no one can expect an artist to stick to one subject or style”
Her creative process follows this intuitive path, as she spends time sketching to begin with working through both love and hate stages of her work until she lands on something she feels confident in. This is clear in her work, which comes from an emotive place, each one with a spiritual undertone. Eszter’s inspiration comes from anywhere, as she collects images and ideas from the world around her, as well as other visual artists. One of her favourite things to draw are ladies, depicting their features and expression in order to communicate the affinity she feels for these women.
Eszter recently submitted several artworks for the recent Street Art exhibition at Surface, all varying in medium and subject matter. Despite only starting using macrame in 2019, one of her textile pieces titled ‘Seafoam’ (bottom right), won the Knit Nottingham prize. Eszter began using macrame as she loved the overall effect of the material, as well as the process offering a meditative experience for her when creating.
An ecological approach is seen throughout this whole process, as the hanging base for this piece was found during a walk through the woods. Eszter states that in every art piece, she makes sure to not waste any materials, instead she aims to reuse as much of the natural fibres and materials as she can. In this artwork, cotton ropes and recycled cotton ribbon yarns are used to make the piece, the raw colours of the piece and the touch of nature allow nature to become closer to people in their homes (a key element in her work).
Alongside her job as a tattoo artist, Eszter is currently illustrating children’s book which is something she began to do during lockdown. By working in a diverse range of jobs and disciplines, Eszter demonstrates how versatile her artistic style is and the ability for her to adapt her creativity. She notes that ultimately her dream is to get back into painting and become a full time fine artist, a goal she has is well on her way to achieving.
Words by Megan Davies