Croatian figurative oil painter, retro women. My art is expressionistic, very emotional, but also engaging. Through art statements I am sending my message, fighting against gender stereotypes and am seeking gender equality, but also finding my own identity.
Painting is my fuel, my passion, sometimes like an addiction. I am painting mostly in the manner of abstract realism, contrasting two seemingly incompatible concepts, abstract art and realistic art. Abstract art does not refer to real objects. By abstract use of lines, shapes, colors, texture and patterns, I create movement, give rhythm, evoke emotions. With the realistic I am trying to capture moments from real life. I am constantly searching for a balance of bright and dark, values and shapes, lines and colors mostly to expose the personality of individuals, but also nature that resembles real life. Through that balance I am finding my inner peace.
My technique is instinctive, intuitive, and full of emotion. The movements of the brush strokes and spatulas are rhythmic and strong like a samba, with thick gestural layers of colors. My work is often characterized by impressionist poses, often with some contemporary surreal detail and a strong message, usually about women’s independence and decision making in public life, but more important in private relationships. With the surrealistic elements I like to point out the important message. Extreme gender stereotypes are harmful. They don’t allow people to fully express themselves and their emotions, suppressed emotions have a great impact on family and on society.
I am painting while listening to loud music. I have to put myself in genres, I like classical music, soul, but when I get crazy it is sometimes jazz or good old rock & roll.
I am under the strong influence of old masters like Monet, Sargent, Klimt and Degas. I use paint with solvents and apply wide traces of oil coating to evoke the realism of figures and portraits and to enhance their expression. Spatulas evoke the abstraction of shapes, lines and enhance the rhythmicity of the image. Also I am focused on design elements and principles to visually express feelings, thoughts and my own experiences.
I am trying to transform images of nature into experiences, in which I see light and possibilities of growth.
I am dedicated to Mother Nature. I am trying to transform images of nature into experiences, in which I see light and possibilities of growth. My paintings are sometimes decorative and aesthetic, but by no means in a superficial way. I like to say when the surrounding is beautiful, it is easier to find peace and better understand life.
The human face and the power of gaze have always been a challenge for artists. Portraits of different women, unknown faces, and again a bit known, are brought into our view, act like models, disinterested and absent. They are sometimes costumed, part some urban or landscape exteriors, and sometimes it is linear pronounced strong large face. In a way, it belongs to those people and the author herself …
Jasna Coce
art historian
Dijana is a person to whom painting simply happened and since I met her as a mentor, this dance with visual expression has become an obsession in a positive sense. Dijana’s paintings depict women dressed in various historical costumes, but all of her protagonists seem a little confused and as if they are not allowed to express their true feelings. But they also observe the same confusion and role. They play the imposed roles perfectly, but they are not happy. In a few portraits and acts that are free of “fashion”, only unexpressed feelings and a re-examination of the right to them remain. Through introspection, original female feelings are born and the path to freedom deprived of social codes. This cycle deeply questions the question of a woman’s identity and being in a woman’s body.
Hrvoje Majer
mentor and academic painter
In a relatively short time, Dijana Čović created an interesting opus of portraits of imaginary contemporaries, but also figures of women from world literature, showed the diversity of artistic manuscripts, painting mostly in a realistic manner, but with occasional steps in surreal or symbolic composition, while in several works on the subject of landscape, she stepped forward according to a discreetly abstract statement. With this exhibition, Dijana Čović confirmed the first period of her artistic upgrade and hinted at wider possibilities for further authorial development, so we are looking forward to her future exhibition appearances “, she concludes in her expert review.
Saša Pavković
art historian
The life of the artist, a native of Vukovar, is largely marked persecution and difficult days of pain, nostalgia, memories and strong emotions that certainly flow into her work and permeate her every work. Thus, women’s motives are not given in a feminist framework, but primarily depict the psychological and sociological aspect where the artist depicts the role of women in our society with brush and paints: she must be smart, beautiful, capable, confident, young, brave … and sadness, fear, worry, uncertainty … Dijana Čović’s paintings are a kind of ode to all women – mothers, daughters, sisters, grandchildren, workers, entrepreneurs, artists, scientists, who each fight in their own way for attention and place in society. Each art is partly introspective, so the artist expressively paints with acrylic and oil techniques, with strong and energetic movements she transforms her emotional states. Dijana Čović’s painting encapsulates several worlds, so, although the motives of women are in the foreground here, we present to the audience other topics that occupy and inspire her. She says that the world of art has changed her world, through colors and movements she reveals her emotions and art becomes like an addiction for her: “When I paint, I breathe …” Like the artist herself, we hope that her paintings will be an inspiration and reminder to all of us on our heritage that testifies that we are passionate, fearless, innovative, influential, intelligent, creative and strong. And let’s be like that …
Snježana Jurišić
head of the CHF Department of Culture
Dijana Čović started her painting oeuvre at a more mature age and already at her first exhibition at the Matica iseljenika in Zagreb, her painting talent was visible. Over time, the timid brush strokes grew into a safer and more measured stroke, and her portraits of women depicting their psychological and sociological aspects showed the author’s deeper layering, not only in art but also in a wide range of interests. Her complete devotion to painting inevitably led to the exploration of new forms, materials and motifs, which could be perfectly seen in her further works, which, driven by this inexhaustible artistic curiosity, were created with relentless speed. Namely, her enormous inspiration was visible, which, like a volcano, erupted in her studio.
Everything that has been created in the last year or two, Dijana positions herself as a serious and consistent artist for whom painting is not a whim but a perfect space for expressing their emotions and states.
A walk through its virtual gallery gives the viewer a sunset into another, calmer, more dreamy world, away from the everyday hustle and bustle and opens up space for meditation. Whether it is landscapes, still lifes, nudes or fairy-tale scenes – the painting world of Dijana Čović is certainly one of those places where beauty and harmony are always found!
Zrinka Turalija Kurtak
Editor of Culture news and the Editorial Office of Culture in the Information and Media Service of HRT
Lovely textures. Really intriguing visual language. Dijana have a very developed aesthetic. The compositions and technique are great and work so well together. It’s very powerful and creative.
