<p>Albana Ejupi has already made a name for herself in Vienna with her vibrant large-format paintings. For some time now, they have been hanging in the Lukas Feichtner Gallery. In addition, Ejupi is currently conquering other metropolises. Time to ask Albana Ejupi for an interview! </p>

<h4 style="text-align: justify;">As a young artist: How did you find your way into the art world?</h4>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.albanaejupi.com/" title="albana ejupi">Albana Ejupi</a>: "To be honest, art has always been an essential part of my life. Nonetheless, very shortly before high school graduation, I was still convinced that I was gonna study medicine, and become a doctor. Luckily, I gave in to my passion and decided to pursue what truly fulfills me and decided to study art. &nbsp;Step after step I started developing my own style and technique. The process to getting where I am at the moment, was surely difficult, especially the networking part, in a foreign country, where you don&rsquo;t even speak the language. Nonetheless, I think the struggle has become part of my artistic personality and has also benefited my artwork."</p>
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<h4 style="text-align: justify;">Who or what influenced your perception of being an artist before you decided to become one yourself?&nbsp;</h4>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Albana Ejupi: "One of my first &ldquo;heavy&rdquo; influences where from my first art course that I took, where I first learned how to practice art and really &ldquo;experience&rdquo; my passion more intensely. I immediately decided to enroll at the Pristina academy of Arts afterward haha. But through the years, there were many different persons, such as professors and other artists, as well as many different experiences, relationships and emotions that influenced my perception of being an artist."</p>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">You said in an interview that your work revolves around intimacy because it is threatened by digitalization like social media. How do you think this affects us as an individual and society as a whole?</h4>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Albana Ejupi: "Well I think most people have realized by now that social interaction has gradually moved into the internet. It has become normal, to experience social life parallelly in the digital world through social media. Now, there are definitely benefits regarding digitalization and social media, but nonetheless I do believe that humans have an evolutionary need for 'real life' relationships and interactions, which are more and more questioned these days."</p>
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<h2>"As an artist, there's not really such a thing like 'pause button' unfortunately." - Albana Ejupi</h2>

<h4 style="text-align: justify;">What else inspires your work?</h4>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Albana Ejupi: "I think personally, im a bit 'obsessed' with human and animal bodies. I&rsquo;m especially curious of how bodies evolve and get older over time and how we physically change over time. On the other hand I&rsquo;m also very interested in human and human to animal relationships. Many of my paintings depict bodies in different positions. The variety of connections reflects the diversity of human relations."</p>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">Is there any pause button for you 'the artist' or are you absorbing the information the environment offers you and translating it into bits and pieces for your work?</h4>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Albana Ejupi: "That&rsquo;s a good question. As an artist, there's not really such a thing like 'pause button' unfortunately. [laughs] But seriously, you have to learn that your passion and your work are always present in your everyday life and thoughts. Of course there are moments you enjoy with your family and friends outside of work, but you never know when it hits you again."</p>

<h4 style="text-align: justify;">Ihre aktuelle Ausstellung tr&auml;gt den Titel "There's beauty within your nakedness". Erkl&auml;ren Sie bitte, was der Titel f&uuml;r Sie bedeutet!</h4>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Albana Ejupi: "Ich bin auf einen Text mit diesem Titel gesto&szlig;en, den ich gelesen habe, und ich hatte vom ersten Moment an das Gef&uuml;hl, dass das Konzept, wie ich den menschlichen K&ouml;rper sehe und darstellen m&ouml;chte, sehr tiefgr&uuml;ndig ist. Andererseits liegt mein Hauptaugenmerk auf der Darstellung von K&ouml;rpern in ihrer wirklich realen Form, ohne jegliche Modifikationen, die wir heutzutage irgendwie mit falscher Sch&ouml;nheit verbinden. Daher bezieht sich der Titel auf emotionale oder psychologische Verletzlichkeit, wie z. B. die Offenlegung der eigenen Gedanken oder Gef&uuml;hle, und auf die Bewegung der Akzeptanz unserer K&ouml;rper, unabh&auml;ngig von Gr&ouml;&szlig;e, Form, Hautfarbe, Geschlecht und k&ouml;rperlichen F&auml;higkeiten."</p>

<h4 style="text-align: justify;">Your current exhibition is called "There's beauty within your nakedness". Please explain what the title means to you!</h4>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Albana Ejupi: "I came across a text that I was reading with this title, and it felt from the first moment really deep to the concept of how I see and want to depict human bodies. On the other hand, my main focus is depicting bodies in their really real form of them, without any modifications that nowadays we are somehow attached to fake beauty. Therefore, the title refers to emotional or psychological vulnerability, such as revealing one's true thoughts or feelings, and to the movement of accepting our bodies, regardless of size, shape, skin tone, gender, and physical abilities."</p>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">What are you currently working on and what's next?</h4>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Albana Ejupi: "As the current exhibition is still present till the first of April in Lukas Feichtner Gallery, the other projects for this year are the following: From April 1 to May 7 my work is shown at Rondell Gallery, Graz. Then I move to D&uuml;sseldorf where my paintings are during April and May at Burkhard Gallery in D&uuml;sseldorf. From May 25 to 28 I am at Arco Art Fair in Lisbon. In June I will be at an exhibition at Museum Podgorica and in July and August my work is on display at an exhibition in Salzburg's Hangar 7 Museum."</p>
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<p style="text-align: right;">Photos: Markus Morianz</p>

Between changing Bodies and Social Media's Nightmare: Albana Ejupi

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