I believe that the legacy of the Great Depression shaped an entire generation of American artists, those who would later become the pioneers of Abstract Expressionism in New York during the 1940s and 1950s. Many began their artistic journeys working in styles rooted in Regionalism and Social Realism. Though they moved beyond these movements by the late 1940s, the experience left a lasting mark on their visual language and artistic sensibility, echoes that feel strikingly relevant amid the uncertainties of today’s global political landscape.

This formative moment in art history resonates deeply with my work which draws energy from the emotional and psychological weight carried by that era. Though separated by time and geography, I start see in these artists, particularly the women of the movement a shared intensity, a desire to transform personal experience into abstraction. The emotional honesty and raw expressiveness of that generation continue to echo in my practice, informing not just the aesthetics of work, but the urgency behind it.

My own practice draws on the ethos of that formative period. As a young artist, my first trip to New York City had a profound and lasting impact on my development. Immersing myself in the city’s energy and artistic legacy, I found inspiration in the work of female abstract painters, particularly Lee Krasner. Her ability to convey autobiography through abstraction resonated with me deeply, her words, “If you look at my work closely, it’s autobiographical,” became a guiding principle.

Krasner’s fierce independence and intuitive approach laid the groundwork for my own exploration of identity through paint. But she was not alone. I found equally powerful echoes in the work of artists like Elaine de Kooning, whose dynamic brushwork and fusion of figuration and abstraction demonstrated a fearless engagement with gesture lyrical approach and use of color as emotion Joan Mitchell, with her raw, expansive canvases, taught me that painting could hold both fury and grace structure and spontaneity.

Coming from former Yugoslavia and raised in Switzerland, I have always understood myself as a constant migrant, navigating cultures, identities, and languages. This sense of displacement and search for belonging found its resolution on the canvas. Painting became both my refuge and my narrative, a space where memory, movement, and transformation unfold.

Through the work of these artists, I saw possibilities how the abstract gesture could be deeply personal, how the act of painting could hold a lifetime of migration, longing, and renewal. My work reflects this layered journey rooted in history, shaped by transition, and driven by a desire to translate inner states into visual form. Today, I let my artistic practice evolve simultaneously toward new horizons of abstraction, drawing from the imagery of the past and translating it into the language of the future.