Interview with Attila Mata

Attila Mata, currently residing in Hungary, was born in Hungary in 1953.He always wanted to be an artist, maybe because he has been surrounded by artworks since his early childhood. He chose sculpture over painting as he was better at it and most of the time his teachers praised him for his sculptures. So after finishing compulsory military service, at the age of 20, he made a resolution ’I will put all my efforts into becoming a sculptor’. He graduated from the Hungarian University of Fine Arts, and later he became a member of a number of art groups and associations. Between 1995 and 1997 he was the President of the Hungarian Sculptor Society. 

Could you please introduce yourself and tell us how you started in the arts? and your first experience in art-making?

I was born in Hungary in 1953 and I have spent my whole life here. Even in my early childhood it was natural for me to paint as my grandfather’s favorite pastime was painting pictures and once in a while he also made small clay sculptures. At the age of nine I asked my mother to enroll me in a drawing study group where I could learn the basic skills.  However, I started carving much later, in my teenage years, after seeing some African sculptures. After being in the army for two years and having time to think, I arrived at the decision that I wanted to be a sculptor. At the Hungarian University of Fine Arts I chose another Master, Tamás Vígh because I had not been satisfied with the former one. Vígh taught me how important the variations on a theme are. You should not be satisfied with the first version of a theme. You should create four to five variants, making the specific work relative, and choose the most powerful one in that particular theme. After getting my university degree I had two years of postgraduate studies, I built my own studio and I started making painted plaster sculptures in late Dubuffet-style without knowing who Dubuffet actually was. I was criticized for copying his art so I changed the material and using the painted plaster sculptures as models, I began making wood sculptures with a chainsaw which I then painted. With my new works I won a scholarship and from that point on I could sell my sculptures to collectors from Hungary and abroad, even to some museums.

How would you describe yourself and your artwork?

I, personally cannot imagine existing without making sculptures. Art belongs to my everyday life; it has formed my way of thinking and my approach to the world, and it contributes to my well-being. I am characterized by a spirit of experimentation. I love trying out all sorts of materials, e.g. wood, bronze, stainless steel, acrystal (acrylic resin) etc., and the different materials force me to find out new solutions in form again and again. In this way I am able to explore more and more areas of sculpture. I am also attracted to the extreme. Challenges inspire me as I am fond of solving problems and discovering rules and interrelations. I am a restless person who always has lots of new ideas and who cannot stop thinking. There is always something I am excited about. 

However, when I create sculptures I am in a meditative state. It is like meditation in yoga. The piece I am working on is the mantra. I focus on it for a long time, day by day, week by week, for months until I stop. You can never say a sculpture is ready but you just stop working on it and let it go. The end result is often even for me surprising. Sometimes a few months or years later I marvel at my work and only then am I able to understand what I have created.

My works speak to the viewer in the language of modern art. They are complex constructions in space, which, avoiding total abstraction, indicate organic, human forms. My sculptures are some kind of puzzles for the viewers. In order to be able to solve this puzzle they need emotional openness and knowledge about modern art and artworks. The complexity and the seemingly unsolvable nature of my sculptures create tension and arouse interest in the viewer. This tension is released only when the viewer manages to understand and solve the artwork, which fills him/her with great joy.

Where do you get the inspiration from?

Each sculpture is inspired by something else so there is always a different story behind it. Some of them are memorable, but some of them have faded into obscurity.

For example, the last time when I was modeling a head, my personal assistant came around, looked at the wireframe I always make before using plaster on the model, and then she told me that it was a real sculpture: the artwork was finished. At first I was surprised but then I started working on it a little bit and that is how my first wire sculpture was created. I placed the wire sculpture on the base. Later, as I was shaving, I had a little mirror in my hand. All of a sudden I had an idea and I put the mirror under the sculpture. It looked fantastic so I covered the top of the base with a huge mirror which, due to reflections, gives the viewers a new experience of space.

What emotions do you hope the viewers experience when looking at your art?

I expect viewers to understand my sculptures rather than to experience emotions when looking at them. However, it turns out from the feedback I get that my works do evoke emotions. Whenever this is the case, I am so surprised. Somebody wrote me that one of my sculptures expresses hope for her and another one ’is a message to the ones who long for safety. When I saw your sculpture it filled my soul with inner peace and a feeling of safety.’ Some viewers get really enthusiastic about my artworks and find them enchanting, warm, soft, super feminine. There are ones who admit they do not know what they see they just love my sculptures. One of my fans said’ It’s like a wonderful piece of music. I adore it.’

When do you know that an artwork is finished?

I do not think any of my artworks are finished as even their ‘existence’ ,in a way, starts only when they meet the viewer who takes part in the creation of the works using his/her imagination. So there are as many works as encounters. Moreover, the same viewer can experience new things each time he/she looks at the same sculpture. Only then is this possible if the artwork is not regarded as a finished piece. I my opinion sculptures should be considered as products of the mind that get into the intellectual net of the viewer and become intellectual nourishment that inspires thought.

What has been the most exciting moment in your art career so far?

After finishing university, as a young artist beginning his career I had no money and I was literally starving, when one day a collector from Germany showed up in my studio. He had seen one of my works at an exhibition before. We had no common language, and since I could not speak either English or German, I had no idea about prices, but we started to bargain. I knew I had to set a good price, as I certainly could not miss the chance of making a deal. Finally he bought more sculptures. He saved my life.

How long does it take to produce one work? 

The specific piece and the technique, and the material I use determine how long it takes to produce a sculpture. It also depends on the size of the work but I usually need more months to create an artwork. There are different phases in my creative process. New themes and ideas often come to my mind right after I wake up, actually when I am still half asleep. That is why I always have a sketchbook on my bedside table. I quickly make drawings of them before they fade away. If these drawings are really convincing to me I start making a plaster model which is rarely bigger than 600 mm. Once the model is ready I decide about the material, the technique and the actual size of my work. If it is a cast      sculpture, I only make the mould for it and do the post-production works like chasing and painting. In the case of acrystal, welded stainless steel sheets, and wires, I make every tiny bit myself. I do not like setting a deadline for finishing a sculpture as I can never predict how much time I will need for the creation.

What exciting projects are you working on right now? Can you share some of the future plans for your artwork?

Wire has appeared as a new material in my art and currently I am trying to explore the many possibilities offered by this material. Consequently, new problems have come up which demand new solutions. The thin wires winding in space create a sense of dynamism, liveliness, and etherealness. Wire sculptures are similar to music in a way that sculptures start losing their ‘physical, material’ nature and are getting closer to compositional elements applied in music like dynamism, rhythm, repetitive ‘bends’ (musical slurs), varying sequences of long and short sounds and silences (material and space in sculpture). ‘Silences’, i.e. empty spaces surrounded by wires play an important compositional role in these sculptures and among others that is what makes them so exciting.

Do you have any upcoming events or exhibitions we should know about?

In our redefined world of COVID19 no one is sure when galleries and museums can open their doors to the public again. A lot of exhibitions are postponed or cancelled but some of them can be visited virtually. Right now a virtual tour of a group show called Artonomy can be accessed on the website of Mucsarnok/Kunsthalle (mucsarnok.hu), which is the biggest and most important museum in Hungary, and where one of my sculptures is exhibited. Hopefully Artexpo New York will take place in the fall, where I also intend to participate with three of my sculptures. In the meantime I try to use all opportunities to be present online.

Where do you see your art going in five years?

I have never had any other desire than creating sculptures and I am really proud of the fact that I have always earned my living doing what I love. So all my wishes and plans are related to the area of sculpture and to making new works. Naturally, I would like to display my artworks in as many places as possible in order to broaden my audience within the next five years. I hope my sculptures will be present in the collection of more collectors all over the world and more people from the USA and from other countries will get to know my art.

Website: attilamata.com

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