Buying Original Art:
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of art do you make?
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I make original abstract paintings, drawings and mixed media works, often beginning with something familiar: a phrase, a view, an interior or a sketchbook drawing. Through layering, repetition and drawing from earlier drawings, these starting points become imagined landscapes and playful compositions. My work moves between colourful, textured paintings and quieter studies on paper.
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Who is the artist behind the work?
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I’m Anastasija Sarajeva, a Latvian-born artist based in London. I studied Technical Arts and Special Effects at University of the Arts London and worked in fabrication and model making before training as a soft tissue therapist. Drawing and making have remained a thread through these changes, alongside questions about belonging—to a place, a body and a moment.
What inspires your abstract art?
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Sometimes it is a place I have drawn; sometimes it is a few words that stay with me. I return to everyday things—rooms, landscapes, food names, familiar sayings, haiku—and explore what happens when they become less recognisable. A word can turn into a shape, or a drawing of a place can become somewhere I have never been.
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How do you turn observational drawings into abstract paintings?
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Are all your paintings made from words?
What is Microcosm: In Play about?
What materials do you use?
I draw outdoors and in interiors, then return to those drawings in the studio. I draw from the drawings themselves, selecting a line, a space or a relationship between shapes. With each version, some details disappear and others grow. The original place remains a starting point, while the work develops its own arrangement and atmosphere.
Words are one of my most favourite starting points. I write and layer them until letters overlap, break apart and become shapes and landscapes. Some are words of care, such as “enough”, “play” or “here and now”; others are food names or silly phrases. Its not about inventing new language but a sense of play with words, making up new words or even a sense of learning definition of a word. Its about association and interpretation.
No. Letterforms are one part of my practice. Other works begin with observational drawings of landscapes and interiors, or develop through collage and experimenting with materials. Drawing connects these approaches, whether I am following the shape of a letter or returning to a line found in a sketchbook.
Microcosm: In Play is an evolving series of colourful abstract paintings exploring play, creative flow and childlike imagination. It grew from a childhood memory of suddenly no longer knowing how to play with toys. Through repeated words, invented shapes and layers of paint, I return to the pleasure of making something without knowing exactly where it will lead.
My paintings include acrylics, oils, oil sticks and wax, depending on the work. In my drawings and mixed media pieces, I also use graphite, ink, crayons, collage and other materials. I work on canvas, board, paper and wallpaper. Each artwork description lists its particular materials and surface.
Texture builds as I layer materials and collage paper, i draw into the surface and work over earlier marks. Some areas remain thin, allowing traces of previous layers to show; others become thicker through oil paint and oil sticks. These differences are part of the painting, and close-up photographs help show what is less visible in a full view.