Introducing: Anki Gelb
Shortly after we announced the work of Sausalito-based artist, Anki Gelb, online, a close friend reached out to let me know how grounded she felt while viewing Anki’s work - even through a computer screen. I was then reminded of the feeling I experienced when I first discovered Anki’s abstractions and abstracted seascapes online - a feeling of calm and a pull to the quality of light in her work. As Anki explains below, hearing that her paintings invite a sense of tranquility is something she experiences often.
Anki notes that more than anything, when someone is viewing her work, she wants them to feel something - as opposed to seeing something. In her words, “what I love about abstract art is that it can affect us in profound ways, but maybe not always in the ways the painter intended.”
Read on for more from Anki - how she is inspired by her native Sweden, what her process looks like, how she spends her time outside of the studio, and more.
What drives you to create?
I think the creative urge is something living inside me. I have always created, with textiles, cooking, and gardening until I finally found my ultimate passion to paint. I started to paint later in life, as I was limited by the belief that one had to have a fine arts degree to be “allowed” to paint in a serious way.
What does your process look like?
I mainly work with oil, which is a wonderful medium. For me, painting is all about the process, blending, applying paint on top of other paint, trying different color combinations, creating marks --- just keep going. I can come in the next day, the oil stays wet, and then rework and make new marks, blend and add colors.
During the pandemic I started to paint with acrylics at home; they don’t smell and are easier to clean in a home environment. It’s a learning curve to switch mediums, but now I know how acrylics react and work. They dry very quickly, making them very different from oils. However, I can let the paint dry, and shortly after layer another coat of paint. I sand to get the underlying layer to show. Then another coat of paint. I just keep going until I feel it has enough depth, texture and feeling. I have received feedback that the end result of my acrylic paintings looks like oil, and I tend to agree with that.
How is your work influenced by your native country, Sweden? Do you feel as though the Bay Area also influences your work?
I’m very influenced by my native country, Sweden. The light is so limited in the wintertime, and then there is this burst of saturated light for a few month in the summer, very much like Maine. Most of the time I paint with subtle and light colors, very quiet paintings with a limited palette. But then once in a while a paintings almost explode with colors. I feel it’s my seasons. My paintings also tend to be very minimalistic, which is another of the Scandinavian influences.
The Bay Area has a similar light as Sweden in the way it’s often wrapped in fog, creating a limited, mystical light and a magical atmosphere. These atmospherics frequently gets depicted in my paintings.
Who are your favorite artists?
Matisse was one of the my early influences, I find his art very accessible and love his color choices. Diebenkorn, was a Bay Area Artist whose bold brush strokes, abstracted landscapes and figurative work speak to me. David Mankin, in Cornwall, England, is an amazing painter; he uses lots of blues, bold brushstrokes and marks, which inspire me.
What response do you hope your art might inspire in a first time viewer?
I want the viewer to feel something, not necessarily see something. A recurring comment about my paintings is that they are calm and invite calmness.
How do you know when a painting is finished?
Sometimes I just know the painting is where I want it, it tells me ”I’m done.” Other times I keep working and working on it. I take pictures during the process of my work and sometimes I look back and think, I should have stopped right there. It’s easy to overwork a painting and ruin it.
How do you spend your time outside the studio?
Cinnamon Teal, my Golden Retriever, keeps me in shape. We hike Mount Tam 4-5 times a week. I road bike and love the feeling of freedom when I’m biking. Spending time outdoors is essential for me to relax and find inspiration. Yoga keeps me centered and calm. I love to cook, but my husband has taken on most of the creative cooking these days. I also love gardening and growing our own vegetables.
Favorite museums?
I’m so fortunate to live in the San Francisco Bay Area where we have San Francisco MoMa, the DeYoung Museum, the Legion of Honor and many smaller venues that provide wonderful exhibits throughout the year. When I visit my mom in Sweden I tend to visit Prince Eugen’s Waldemarsudde, a museum, which always has an interesting exhibit and beautiful surroundings.
A big thank you to Anki for sharing details on her philosophy, process, and the inspiration that informs her work. Be sure to follow Anki on Instagram to keep up with her most recent work.
