Category: 2023

Tania Stupnikova
And let the whole world wait
Acrylic on canvas
80×80 cm
2023
Košice, Slovakia
Price: 1150 EUR

The idea was simple: I wanted to paint a beautiful horror that meant absolutely nothing.

Apparently, I failed.

There is always something to worry about, something frightening happening somewhere, something that needs to be done. Even the things you love eventually come with paperwork, deadlines, submissions, correspondence and parcels to send. Sometimes you get tired not of any one particular thing, but of having to care about all of them at once.

So perhaps this painting is about that moment when the horrors can wait.

Sometimes all you need is a little yellow duck.

Tania Stupnikova
Rule of two walls
Mixed media (acrylic, watercolor pencils) on canvas
65×85 cm
2023
Košice, Slovakia
Price: 885 EUR

Fortunately, these words usually mean nothing to ordinary people. Unfortunately, these words mean a lot to Ukrainians.
In our “soviet” buildings, when there are no bomb shelters (and there are none), then only the rule of two walls can save from a missile. Not always, not in every house – but usually. This rule works when the house has two concrete walls – the outer one and the one in the corridor. Then, if there is no direct hit, there is a chance to survive. Not after every projectile, but there is.
In some houses you can hide in the bathroom – in ours you can’t, in ours it’s a “box” that folds together with you.
So, in fact, a child can only hide in the world of his imagination. In a world where a monster will crawl out from under the bed and hide you from the hostile world.
This picture was created within the framework of the Ukrainian project “UnChildLike world”.

Sofia & Tania Stupnikova
Hold your breath
Acrylic on canvas
60×60 cm
2023
Košice, Slovakia
Price: 720 EUR

This painting was created together with my daughter, Sofia. At the time, she loved anime much more than I did and understood its visual language far better. She drew Medusa’s face; I painted the rest.

For me, this painting became an experiment in breaking my own rules. I had always felt that a painting should fill the whole canvas, and that leaving large areas almost untouched somehow meant leaving the work unfinished. Here, for the first time, I let the background remain open. I also borrowed a visual language that was not yet mine and mixed it with my own way of painting.

I enjoyed the process enormously. And somewhere along the way, many things I had considered “not mine” became mine.

Perhaps you just have to hold your breath and dive in.

Tania Stupnikova
TRESPASSERS W
Mixed media (acrylic, watercolor pencils) on canvas
75×75 cm
2023
Košice, Slovakia
Price: 815 EUR

The image of a wasp devouring a UFO came to me by itself. I am actually very afraid of wasps, but I find them to be very strange and beautiful creatures.
Sometimes horrors are senseless, I don’t like them – it’s usually all mystical and otherworldly. I don’t see the point in it, so I’m bored and I don’t like it. But I really like horror stories about predatory animals – from a ferret to an Alien. Because I understand their logic. In addition to wasp. Some kind of evil and unpleasant insect – it does not like you and stings simply because of a bad mood.
At first, I thought that the wasp would be bad for me.
And then she drew and thought about it – after all, it seems that they are her children, and she protects them. I didn’t think like that when I was painting, but it turns out that way. Often in paintings, the subconscious takes over. So I believe that the wasp in the picture is protecting its babies.

Tania Stupnikova
What happens in a fairy circle – stays in a fairy circle
Mixed media (acrylic, watercolor pencils) on canvas
65×85 cm
2023
Košice, Slovakia
Price: 885 EUR

This abandoned and neglected place is not and should not be a refuge for magical creatures. They lived in their own home, but the disaster drove them out of native place, forcing them to seek shelter. Here they are trapped, cut off from their natural environment.
A swamp witch is standing on a magic stone, focused on summoning magical powers. Forest creatures have gathered around her, they look at the viewer with hope – this is how a street cat looks, who wants to believe that you are the one who will shelter her.
But usually such hopes are in vain.
I wanted to remind about the insurmountable difficulties faced by any creatures separated from their roots and lineage. At the same time, I wanted to show that hope for external help is as futile as the hopes of these creatures.
But I believe that on their own they will surely succeed – one way or another, with or without magic, they will return home – or bring their home to wherever fate has taken them.
If you want to hide them in yourself – write to me.

Tania Stupnikova
Spaghetti Monster Bathing
Acrylic on canvas
75×75 cm
2023
Košice, Slovakia
Price: 995 EUR

I consider Pastafarianism to be the most exciting religion in the world. It is a “parody” religion founded by Bobby Henderson in 2005 in protest against the Kansas Department of Education’s decision to introduce the concept of “intelligent design” into the school curriculum as an alternative to the teaching of evolution.
The Commandments of the Flying Noodle Monster are called the “Eight “Thou Shalt Not Do This”, and they are truly the most humane and tolerant commandments in the world (in the “new” testament they are slightly different, but still beautiful). If you haven’t already, read them and there will be one more Pastafarian in the world.
The picture is written instead of what we had to leave behind in Ukraine when we fled the war. But the opportunity to celebrate the Flying Macaroni Monster is important, so I paint one more. ))))
For the glory of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Ramen!

Tania Stupnikova
Eva, open the door!
Acrylic on canvas
55×55 cm
2023
Košice, Slovakia
Price: 485 EUR

When I see a new picture in my mind’s eye, most of the time I’m pushing off something in real life. Sometimes it’s the little details that spark my imagination.
We were returning from tutoring and my daughter saw a plant behind the translucent doors of the house. Look, she says, how it looks like some alien monster!
I looked – and really!
I think: I must draw it, this monster!
I reasoned for a long time, twisted it this way and that way, but in the end the monster did not turn out. It turned out Eve and a slightly different story. Like the real Eve, she appeared almost out of nowhere and began to live her own life. She even made a decision for all of humanity.
I will put a photo of the same plant at the end of the carousel, so you can take a look. )))))

Tania Stupnikova
Waiting for Gerda
Acrylic on canvas
65×85 cm
2023
Košice, Slovakia
Price: 885 EUR

Ray Bradbury has an incredible story Referent, where the alien constantly changes form, and maybe even essence, under the influence of the characteristics that the hero gives him. Since childhood, I felt so sorry for that alien, because he has no form and name, he just is, he does not want to be something that others see him as.
I feel my paintings as that alien. Yes, I put a part of myself in them, but I want them to live their own lives. So I will not explain how to understand the picture.
But the creation story is something else, I can share that. I came up with this picture when I was listening to a song about the fact that fairy tales are not what they seem. So I thought the Snow Queen’s castle might be a little different too. And there may be many beings who could not gather the word “Eternity”. Now only Gerda can help them…

Tania Stupnikova
Impersonator
Acrylic on canvas
55×55 cm
2023
Košice, Slovakia
Price: 605 EUR

This painting began with a half-asleep thought: what if something from the world behind the screen reached into ours?

That was it. There was no concept, no message, and certainly no explanation. The scene simply grew around that thought.

What I love about this painting is that people keep explaining it to me — and their explanations are never the same. Everyone seems to recognize something different in it. One person even felt sorry for the creature: apparently, it had managed to escape through the laptop only to discover that it still had to work.

I have my own ideas about what is happening here, of course. But by now I think everyone else’s versions are much more interesting.

Perhaps some questions are better left unanswered.