Filip Stanisic from Donja Bitinja: Love of painting emerged from the toughest struggle in life

Sometimes the biggest turning points in life happen when we least expect them. For young Filip Stanisic from Donja Bitinja, in the municipality of Strpce, it was precisely his time in hospital that became the moment when he discovered his love for painting. Over time, it became his way of expressing his feelings, thoughts, and view of the world.

Filip tried to overcome the difficult period he spent in hospital undergoing dialysis by drawing, at his mother's suggestion. He says that at first he mostly drew animals, which reminded him of the freedom he was missing at that time.

“It started quite early, when I was 14. I took a somewhat more difficult path. I underwent dialysis for five and a half years, and during that period of my life, while I was in hospital, I tried to make each day pass as quickly as possible. My mother told me to try drawing something, so that time would pass more quickly. These were certain motifs, and I mostly looked online to see what was there, but during that period I was inspired by horses, mostly animals, because I felt a certain sense of freedom in them,” Stanisic said.

He says he realized that painting would be his life's calling, so he enrolled at the Faculty of Arts in Zvecan, where he is currently in his third year.

“I decided to enroll at the faculty in Zvecan, primarily because I felt that I belonged here. I could have enrolled at a faculty in Belgrade, but I love this place so much, I grew up here and I am so attached to it that it simply had to be this way. At the faculty, I met many people who recognized my talent, and that in a way opens doors, but after that we have to work hard to become as good as possible,” Stanisic said.

During his studies, he says, he has learned to work in different techniques, but for now he is most comfortable with charcoal on paper.

“We also work with many other techniques, such as printmaking, for example. Printmaking is one subject that involves all kinds of techniques that I learned about for the first time in my life at the faculty, and they showed that I am very good at these techniques in general and that they suit me well. We also have other painting techniques: dry pastels, oil pastels, watercolor, all of these are techniques I have to learn. I am better at some techniques and less so at others, but at the moment I am most comfortable with charcoal drawing,” Stanisic said.

He says that the human being is his greatest inspiration and that he tries to show through his paintings a person's characteristics, but also the inner struggle taking place within them.

“My greatest inspiration is the human being, their face, their gaze, their soul in a way, their shadow, smile and emotions. All those deeper things within them, the inner struggles they have gone through, where perhaps I also recognize something of myself, because I have had something similar in my life, and somehow, based on my own life, I notice certain other things that I might otherwise have passed by without noticing, but now I see them. That attracts and inspires me greatly in a way, because each of us has some inner struggle that is not easily seen,” Stanisic said.

Although he has many works of his own, he says he has not yet held a solo exhibition, but has taken part in group exhibitions with his colleagues.

“I have not had any solo exhibitions. I have participated in student and international exhibitions. An exhibition is important for us artists because then the work is no longer just ours, but becomes part of something bigger. We have to bring all our emotions from the process of creating the work before the audience. Someone may feel the same thing, someone may simply walk past the work, while someone else may stop and the work may awaken a different emotion in them,” Stanisic said.

He is particularly proud of the award he received at an international exhibition in Russia for his work “Studenica”.

“This year, the most significant award I received was in Russia, in Tyumen. I received it for the graphic work ‘Studenica’. I created the ‘Studenica’ triptych in printmaking, using etching and a combination of etching and aquatint. I needed a lot of time for that work, I worked on it exclusively for about a month and a half. I received an award for ‘Studenica’, which makes me extremely happy because I know how much time and effort I put into it,” Stanisic said.

He says that he has one goal ahead of him – to create works and, through his creative work, find a sense of purpose as well.

“My goal is not to finish the faculty and say, ‘I am a painter,’ or to obtain some title. My goal is simply to create. The need to create began at that very beginning, when I was in hospital, where I felt helpless. Not as if I needed help, but simply because this was my search for meaning at that moment. Why did God create me, or why was I born, what can I give to this world while simply feeling fulfilled by it?” Stanisic said.

His plans are to continue improving, meet other artists, travel and become better with each new work.

“Earlier, I tried to say through paintings and drawings things that I could not put into words. I did that through images. And it is still the same now, I try to convey what I see, whether it is a person, nature or a landscape. I try to transfer my view of the world onto the work, so that when someone sees it in the future, they will know without seeing the signature that I made it, or that I have my own distinctive mark,” Stanisic said.