Portfolio Review: Painter Lina Viktor Shares Her Fascination With Gold, Geometry, and the Wu-Tang Clan

This artist's 24-karat paintings are literally precious.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

This past year has been a whirlwind for artist Lina Viktor. Time and time again she has been presented with opportunities to show her unique graphic creations, and regardless of how chaotic her schedule becomes, count on the fact that she will get the job done.

“The Wu-Tang billboard I did for WallPlay’s ‘WU-HA | 20 20’ exhibition was done in four days,” explains Viktor. “There’s a lot of mad dashing when I’m invited to create a piece, but it all happens to work out. I’ve found that I work well under pressure. This is the best me, and I’ve never been more sure about myself and my work than right now. I am creating in my Golden Age.”

The 27-year-old from Surrey, England has plenty to feel golden about. Her very first piece was shown just last May at New York’s Rox Gallery, where it was in great company with Peter BeardRyan McGinley, and Andy Warhol pieces. From there, her works traveled to Art Basel Miami Beach 2013, where she exhibited alongside works from Takashi Murakami and Jean-Michel Basquiat. She’s recently been enlisted to create a stop-motion work for the esteemed fashion publication Visionaire.

“I am working on perfecting my visual narrative. I’ve always created art but it hasn’t been until recently that I’ve shown it. Beforehand, I was too worried about people’s reception to it, but now I realize I’m only responsible for voicing or showing what it is I see in my world,” says Viktor.

Strictly adhering to a color palette of black, white, and hand-gilded 24-karat gold in her works has transferred to her wardrobe as well. Sitting in a back room of The Bowery Hotel, Viktor wears black from head to toe with the exception of gold jewelry and shiny, cobalt blue on her stiletto nails. The hue is the latest color she’s beginning to use in her art. “I admire Yves Klein’s work and am drawn to the regality of the blue he uses. He describes the color as having no dimensions. We associate it with things of vastness like the sky and the sea. That is powerful.”

Pieces from this new body of work will be shown in her first solo exhibition in Chelsea this coming April. Having studied film and photography at New York-based art schools, Viktor admits she was inspired to venture into art after working a stint with Spike Lee. “I’ll always have a love for film, but as an artist, there’s a certain level of instant gratification that I like. Films are a collaborative effort, and I found I had to rely on others too much to complete something,” explains Viktor. “Once you pass that threshold of being scared of your potential and you realize you can do what you want to do, that fear starts to motivates you. That’s why I’m all about empowering others to believe in themselves. I’ve learned tremendously from it and know that it’s only onward and upward from here.”

RELATED: Portfolio Review: 7-Year-Old Artist Yung Lenox Talks About His Favorite Drawings of Rappers
RELATED: Portfolio Review: Shawn Huckins Discusses His 19th Century American Painting Memes

Portfolio Review: Painter Lina Viktor Shares Her Fascination With Gold, Geometry, and the Wu-Tang Clan

Now. And Forever More

Not Available Interstitial

Golden Ratio, 2013

Not Available Interstitial

Process and Materials

Not Available Interstitial

Billboard, LV for Wu-Tang 20 Year Anniversary / "WU-HA | 20 20"

Not Available Interstitial

5. 24/360, LV for Wu-Tang 20th Anniversary / "WU-HA | 20 20"

Not Available Interstitial

LV for Visionaire / "30 Days 30 Artists"

Not Available Interstitial

2D to 3D

Not Available Interstitial

Fade to Blue

Not Available Interstitial

Latest in Style