VITA SEQVETUR
Kristina Maškarin a.k.a.
kristina_tina a.k.a. kunstlerina a.k.a. kristoforina
Kristina Maskarin, unconventional
artist.
Graduated at the School
for Applied Arts in Zagreb, Department of Textile 1987 and finished afterwards
several part-time courses in England during the '90-ties and won a 1st
place at the sutdent year exhibition in '92 at the Camden School
of Arts, London.
Working in tourism (runs
her own travel agency: see www.
Kristofor.hr) , Kristina is interested in merging various areas (anthropology,
humanism, history of art, cognition ) with art and travel, she is combining
multidisciplinary approaches to visual and creative expressions.
In her own visual expression combined techniques are recognised as her
'handwriting'; from traditional art & craft techniques, mixed
media, to contemporary digital media, art activism and new technology.
She had a couple of group
exhibitions and in the '90-ties participated on ex-tempore in Volosko and
Grožnjan. First solo exhibition in the gallery of the S. Radic campus
in Zagreb in '95 under the leadership of K. Barunica.
Her work have been shown
internationally in online and offline venues such as Stoke Newington Festival
- Mme Lillie Quarter century show, Art Addiction 1st Medial Biennial, ISA
- International Society of Artists, Rhizome.org, Absolute arts.com, Artmajeur,
D'Art, Webism and more.
In 2005 she won Award
of Distinction / Prize of Excellence at the Art
Addiction 1st Medial Biennial, London among 258 artists from
56 countries with 1857 artworks for her work RAYE and thus got published
in the "FAMOUS
100 CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS" art book, volume 05 by World of Art and in
the exhibition catalogue.
Today Rarely exhibites.
- informal
& personal BIOSism ::
Enjoyed happy
childhood on the island
Rab, Croatia, as the oldest of the two daughters. Withdrawn and adventureous
child who loved long hides and searches in the woods and fields near the
family house. When not out, I was drawing. In primary and secondary school
known as a good student with strange looks. My teen years were spent at
the boarding school in Zagreb where I graduated at the wonderful School
for applied arts and design in Zagreb, followed by Fashion design on
Institute
for textiles, the only near- to applied arts course available at the
time. That was a dull and unchallanging course with poor facilities and
sadly tailored curriculum with poor perspective in the troubled textile
industries. So I chucked it.
Instead, I decided
to pause to think it over and went travelling to Middle
East, India
and Nepal
for the winter 87/88 and spent
some time researching in the area and got aquainted with the new culture,
overcame some personal challanges and became interested in tribe
logics and environmental issues.On
return I got employed by Rima - a marketing & publishing company from
Rijeka as a gallery assistant in "Duke's palace gallery " in Rab and worked
there until the turbulent 1990ties. I was 22 at a time and thought to return
to study to get a degree... But after the bombardment of Zagreb during
one of the exams in autumn 1991. I had it enough and left for UK
where I stayed on-&-off basis for almost 3 years. I was not too happy
about it since it interrupted with my planns, but otherwise seemed not
a bad idea for the well-being of my soul. With my pacifist ideas I could
have not done much good back home. As of years in UK, I stayed in London
all the time, with few excursions to Brighton and Isle of Wight.
Time
in London was spent on endless city walks on the nearby Heath
and of course touring galleries,
museums,
libraries and on part-time studies and babysitting Beth, Binnie and Maddy...
Au pair life. Thanks to my hosts - Grossmann's family I enjoyed it most
of the time, specially during textile screenprinting art classes at the
Hapmstead
School of Arts; with a Fine
Artist David Carr as the Headmaster, where I met K.D.Baldwin,
a part-time teacher who talked me into applying for BA course...
I actually won the place for the BA in textile arts on Goldsmiths
collage but here a complication: alien fees. I refused to go for refugee
status or do a bogus-marriage in order to study, hence did not manage to
sort out funding ie. the tuition
fees. UK immigration rules show how Education is declaratively
for everyone, but in reallity out of the reach for those that are not rich
or 'resourceful'. On the other hand understandable considering that education
is one of the Britain's best export products ( after music).
Actually, thinking of it today, it is very sad that most of 'other
nationals or aliens or 3rd or underdeveloped..." put their values under
western scrutiny, as if the values are the same... At that time I too thought
that at least I knew I had potential because of them saying so...
The secretary of Mr Al Fayed of Harrods where I applied for grant put it
nicelly; "Do you think Mr Al Fayed would be so rich if he was giving away
his money just like that?" ( as if all he has is a deed of his sole work
). In overrall just as many others, I was enchanted with the possibilities,
but unlike others, I did not want to conform. So, having failed to put
the money together or find a sponsor, I came back in 1994. My friend
Sheran
whom I met in 1993-4 at the Citylit
on a screenprinting course couldn't believe I'd leave. But it wasn't all
for nothing; I learned the lanquage, did lots of applied courses
( profficiency in english, screenprinting, computing, pattern cutting and
modeling courses), made some very nice friends, seen great museums and
exhibitions... I know today that noone can give you good enough credit
to assure you of your own worth. There is this explanation as a friend
of mine Ivana whom I met at the Hapmstead
Garden Suburb Institute, puts it: english tomatoes do not have the
taste as ours so it is good to go home... Reason good enough, what do you
think? ( Mind you, just recently the tomatoes on our markets started to
taste very much the same as english.) After return to Croatia and on my
home island, I worked in the family agency, with a short break of couple
of months in Germany in order to understand our 'gastarbeiters'. Being
back for good in Croatia I was shocked about the society here; corruption,
politics and appalling legal system here and lack of transparency, democratic
standards and fair society and even more with the environmetalists and
NGO's who were mainly into soliciting for funds from the budget or dubiouse
foreign fundings and advocating new job projects for their own end. But
what to do, one cannot stop the environmental catastrophy, you just have
to survive through it if possible. Since my parents run a small private
travel agency from the '90-ties, I joined in. See: http://www.kristofor.hr
.
Coming from completely
different background ( artist) I had to complete different profficiency
courses in the travel and tourism industry ( for the travel agency office
manager, real estate agent and travel guide). I have been working
in the agency since 1995 and have gained hands-on experiences in travel
business and other related skills ( like secretarial work, PR, marketing,
promotions, negotiating skills to in-house material designing). After 10
years working with the parents I became comfortable
managing the agency so run it on my own since 2005. Beside core business,
I am focusing my energies at the agency to improve public awareness on
environment and impacts of tourism on it ( see Urban
Island ) and to develop cognition creative holidays ( see kristofor
art holiday offers ).
Now I live a quiet life
in the province and am seen on and off the island.
As of Art, where
am I today?
I am for a life-long
education and am learning by myself through different unconventional means.
I have thought myself html standard 3.0, got aquainted with Dreamweaver
but still preffer pure html lanquage and editors like Arachnophilia
. I work with a combination of computer photo programs to get the best
outcome in the digital imaging.
It is such a
shame that there aren't any relevant art-courses ( not just hobb- entrance-level
or computer games design courses) available on a long-distance or via-
internet just as yet. In the last 5 years I have worked on internet and
in digital media as my primary way of expression.
Nowdays I am interested
in multidisciplinary approaches, particularly researching cognition and
healing through visual expression and tools, implementing it through the
agency special holiday programm ( see above ).
I rarely exhibit
and create only a few real-life canvases.
Variouse Work
Experiences:
- telephonist,
babysitter, waitress,
saleswomen,
receptionist, gallery assistant, farm worker / horse hostler, travel
agent, webmaster
&
designer, free-lance artist
My past artworks are online
in this portfolio, as well as few outlines of the newer works. I also run
an broader project in connection to tourism ( urban-island) and am active
member of ISA,
Rhizome.org,
Absolute arts.com, Artmajeur, D'Art etc. art communities and others.
Art- background;
- traditional drawing
and painting techniques;
- applied arts; incl.
fashion styling & modeling,fashion desing, textile crafts (dyeing,
weaving), silk-screen printing,
- photography:: http://albums.photoworkshop.com/showpic.php?uuid=101&aid=5978&pid=44207
- advertising &tourism
photography http://photos.yahoo.com/kristina_tina/
- Featured Album of the
day, April 28, Webshots community: http://community.webshots.com/album/11901933gumIugGRgR
- photographs at http://www.picture.com/display.asp?ID=968551
- http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/dynoGall2.asp?camID=2243
- mixed media ::
http://www.rabinfo.net/atelierK/
portfolio project
- Computer and digital
art :: Kristina_Tina :: Digital art ::
- http://dart.fine-art.com/aqd-asp-F_Kristina-L_Maskarin-buy-sQuery.htm
- new media, digital artworks
- http://www.angelfire.com/art2/kristina-tina/
- cultural activism
- http://www.urban-island.org
project - cultural activism
- http://atelierk.digitalart.org/
- portfolio, sections in progress
- http://www.artmajeur.com/kristinamaskarin/
- http://tatet.com/search-kristina_maskarin.html
- world artist directory::
http://accessarts.org/cgi-bin/isc/classifieds.cgi?action=userads&UserID=14919
- digital ornaments:
http://www.rabinfo.net/atelierK/textil/textil1.html