MAŠA GALA & KLEMEN BRUN 

WIN Gallery (to both artists): You approach the image from different directions: Maša, through layered structures, fragmented forms and sensory perception; Klemen, through gesture, repetition and references to art history. How would you describe the central question(s) that guide your artistic journey?  
 
MAŠA GALA: I am interested in how we perceive, remember and reconstruct reality. We live between physical and digital worlds, constantly surrounded by images and information that shape our understanding of what is real. My paintings often begin with fragments - images, memories, visual information or materials - which I bring together, destroy, cover and reconstruct. I am fascinated by the tension between order and chaos; between systems we create to understand the world and the unpredictable nature of human experience. Perhaps the central question in my work is: how much of what we see is actually what we perceive, and how much is constructed by our memories, emotions and the images surrounding us? 
 
KLEMEN BRUN: I am interested in the relationship between the image, its history and the act of painting itself. Painting is never an isolated gesture. Every image carries traces of other images, cultural references and personal experiences. Through repetition, transformation and reinterpretation, I explore how familiar visual structures can acquire new meanings. I am particularly interested in what happens when an established image is removed from its original context and confronted with contemporary visual language. 

WIN Gallery (to Klemen): Your „Las Meninas” series revisits one of the most recognizable works in Western art, Diego Velázquez’s masterpiece. Why this masterpiece? What significance does it carry for you and how does your dialogue with Velazquez bring fresh perspectives to the viewer?  
 
K. B.: Las Meninas is fascinating because it is not simply a painting about what we see. It is a painting about the act of looking itself - about the relationship between the artist, the subject and the viewer. Velázquez created an extraordinarily complex visual situation in which our position as observers is constantly questioned. Who is looking at whom? What is represented, and what remains outside the image? By returning to this masterpiece, I am not trying to reproduce or improve it, I am interested in what happens when such an iconic image enters a different time and visual environment. Reinterpretation allows me to question the authority of the original while acknowledging its extraordinary influence. It is a conversation across centuries, conducted through painting. 

WIN Gallery (to both artists): We live in a world saturated with digital images and rapidly changing representations of reality. How does this contemporary condition influence your relationship with painting, a medium that requires time, physical presence and sustained attention?  
 
M.G.: We consume hundreds of images every day, often without really seeing them. We scroll, like, reject and forget. Our attention has become fragmented. Painting operates differently; it demands time - both from the artist and the viewer. You cannot experience the physical surface of a painting in the same way through a screen. Its scale, texture, imperfections and material presence are essential. Interestingly, I do not reject digital culture, quite the opposite: it is one of the main subjects of my work. I am interested in bringing the visual logic of digital images back into a physical, tactile space. Painting allows me to slow down something that is normally consumed in seconds. 
 
K. B.: The speed of digital communication has fundamentally changed our relationship with images. Painting offers another kind of experience, one that cannot be reduced to immediate recognition. For me, the physical act of painting is important because it involves decisions, accidents, gestures and time. A painting carries the traces of its creation. 

WIN Gallery (to both artists): Your works have been featured in multiple international exhibitions. Among the recent ones, there is „Dance on the Surface of Being”, organized by WIN Gallery, in Bucharest. What can you tell us about your encounter with the Romanian art scene? 
 
M.G.: Romania has been an important part of our international artistic connections for several years, particularly through ART CIRCLE and our collaborations with Romanian artists and curators. What I find especially interesting is the diversity and vitality of contemporary Romanian art. There is a strong sense of artistic identity, but also openness towards experimentation and international dialogue. 
 
Being part of the Dance on the Surface of Being exhibition at WIN Gallery was another opportunity to develop these connections and introduce our work to a different audience. 
I believe that exhibitions become truly meaningful when they lead to new conversations, relationships and future collaborations. 
  
K. B.: Our experience with Romanian artists and cultural professionals has been truly positive. The exhibition at WIN Gallery represents another valuable connection between our artistic environments. Such exchanges are important because they allow works to be experienced outside their usual cultural contexts. 

WIN Gallery: Through Art Circle International – art residencies in Slovenia and Austria - as artistic director and project manager, respectively, you help bring together artists from different countries, artistic traditions and cultural backgrounds. What inspired you to create such a program, and how has it developed? 
 
K. B.: ART CIRCLE began fifteen years ago with a simple but ambitious idea: to create meaningful encounters between artists, local communities and different cultures. We wanted to move beyond the traditional exhibition format and create situations in which artists could live, work and exchange ideas directly with their hosts and with one another. 
Over the years, ART CIRCLE has developed into an international network of artist residencies, exhibitions and cultural collaborations, connecting artists and institutions across borders. One of the most important aspects of the project is that art does not remain confined to galleries. It enters everyday life, creating relationships between artists and people who might not otherwise encounter contemporary art.