Hello, I am Katarína Magdiaková!

Where are you from? What are you doing in Amsterdam?

I come from village in northern Slovakia, called Zákamenné, surrounded by hills and beautiful nature. I am a fresh graduate of master's degree at the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica, where I studied painting. In my work I reflect the issue of fleshiness, ideal of beauty and intimate female relationships. I deal with women's personal topics, identity formation and related issues of physical appearance. My intention is to confront the viewer with the nature of the female body, point out its beauty. Gradually I started to deal with strong intimate relationships, which women create among themselves: relationships between friends, mother and daughter, sisters, girlfriends, and so on. In my latest series Catharsis I start deal also with relationship, but this time between contemporary man and nature, which I want to develop also here in Amsterdam. After my studies I came here to get some new inspiration for my artworks and gain new experiences.

Can you tell something about the place where you come from?

Zákamenné is located in the north of Slovakia on the border with Poland. I could say that I am a girl from the mountains, because village is surrounded by hills and beautiful nature. With good visibility, there is a good view of the Western Tatras. In addition to beautiful nature, the village also has strong folk traditions. During my studies, I lived mostly in Banská Bystrica, which is located in the center of Slovakia. It is a beautiful city with historic architecture, many art galleries and museums. And of course is also surrounded by breathtaking mountains.

What is your favorite activity/ the things you like to do during your free time?

In my free time, I like to create, make sketches, paint, take photos or simply hang out with friends. Whenever there is a good artistic event or exhibition, I like to join. But with my boyfriend we usually plan some adventures for our free time. We are mountain lovers, so we always like to „run up“ a hill. And every year we go on some camping trip. For example this summer we cycled 1000 km to Venice (Italy). With our passion for cycling, Amsterdam is the best choice for us, you can go by bike everywhere here. In my free time here in the Netherlands, I am excited to explore some new beautiful places.

What fascinates you the most about the city? About Nieuw-West?

I've been here for a very short time, so I don't know the city very well. But I think Amsterdam is magical city with all the brown-brick buildings, canals with boats and lots of bikes everywhere. It is a very lively and busy city with slightly crazy weather. Nieuw-West is different than the center of Amsterdam, SAMA brought me to this part of the city, and I think that when you get close, it can captivate you with its atmosphere, mostly street art that surprises you everywhere around the corner.

What is your relationship to street art? Art in general?

Well, I'm a painter, so art is my life. Art is inseparable part of human life, without it it would be quite boring. We meet art in everyday life and it beautifies our environment, makes it more intristing and often spreads deep thoughts into society as well. Whether it is painting, graphics and sculpture, photography or even Street Art. Honestly, in the past I wanted to try street art too. It is quite funny when I think about it. I had several very good street artists in my area, my friend and I saw them as our role models. So we started our training under the bridges in our village. We even planned to paint one large wall on the basketball court. However, we never did it because the illegal part of street art scared us. But I still admire street art very much.

In your opinion what's the most interesting aspect of Street Art?

What I like most about street art is socializing, when street artists organize some legal event and many painters and friends from different places come. Through their paintings they convey a message to society and at the same time they make ordinary places on the street special. They do it not only for themselves, but also for the general public, who can watch the artists directly at work and talk to them. And this is it, comunucation, verbal or visual, It's an inherent part of society and art.

What are your respontibilities at SAMA?

At SAMA I will mainly assisting with marketing and block posts. I will also participate in community events, workshops, tours and take photos. Besides that I will be happy to use my painting skills and help with any painting project.

Do you have a favourite artist in the SAMA collection?

From SAMA collection, I like the work of two female artists, Daniela Frongia and Kiki Skipi. What I find interesting about Daniela's work is that it is different from ordinary street art. She works with cotton and creates eye-catching shapes and instalations. I find that the second artist, Kiki, has an interesting color approach as well as themes of a woman connected to nature. Even though the authors have diametrically different works, I see a pleasant similarity in their work. Both make feminine art, which I find very delicate and sensitive.

artwork by Daniela Frongia

What interests you most in the concept of SAMA?

What is interesting about SAMA is that it is different from other museums, as the works are freely available to any viewer on the streets of the Nieuw-West. Some of them are only temporary because they change over time, anyone can intervene in the work, repaint it or the artwork simply disappear. I find this processuality of street art interesting. It's also great that SAMA supports the community of street art artists and gives them the opportunity to express themselves, thus maintaining the tradition of this expression in the streets. SAMA brings street art closer to the general public with its activities and workshops.

Which artwork of the SAMA collection do you like the most?

It is quite difficult to choose just one work. But for me, probably the work Scared plots on the door by the author Oak Oak. What I like about all his works is that he notices details in the city that others just overlook and turns them into art with a sense of humor. He uses the elements of the city very creatively.

artwork by Oak Oak