Csaba Kis Róka

My morning ritual is drinking tea. Camomile. At least a litre. And then some kind of breakfast, possibly sausage. Then I check my mail, do the paperwork if there is any, and then I come to the studio. 5 or 6 hours of work a day is enough.

It changes all the time. In the past few years I got bored with pop music. Especially with the way it sounds. Everything is too compressed. Everything sounds at the same time. For a while, I went back to the progressive music of the 1960s and ‘70s (e.g. King Crimson). And these days, I listen to new bands, most of all. Music they call jazz but I prefer to call it instrumental music, where the instruments’ dynamics play the main part. And I always enjoy David Bowie.

What has made the greatest impression on me recently was T by Pelevin, which I red last year. Furthermore, Apuleius’ Golden Donkey and E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Murr the Cat’s Philosophy of Life are works that I have read many times.

I would love to go to New York.

Both. I can cook a few things really well. And I like restaurants because they have utensils and equipment I don’t.

Internet.

Mostly Hungarian art magazines. On paper.

I like jackets.

In summer I envy girls for skirts but I would never wear a top.

The decision came when I was four, but then I did not know yet what it really meant. It is an interesting story, actually, related to Niels Horgerson. My kindergarten mates were all watching it and I had never had a chance. It had been my dream to see it once, and eventually, I could catch the end of an episode on TV. The following day, in the kindergarten, I began to draw a summary of the story, or of what I remembered. Then the teacher gave me an A3 size sheet, which seemed gigantic to me at the time, and she also gave me crayons. I was the only one allowed to use crayons. The other kids sat around me, and the teacher encouraged me to draw. My parents were also cool. They supported me too, and pushed me in this direction softly. I finally decided to be a painter when I was 16, and from then on, I painted after school every day.

It changes all the time. I could mention many. Or also just a few. I like my painting titled Koncert (Concert), which I painted in 2010, very much. And also Vihar (Tempest), from 2008. It is still here in my studio.

When I was 12 I would have liked to meet Mihály Munkácsy. Because he was the only one I knew. I would also love to meet László Mednyánszky, but of course, if he travelled to me through time, I think he would get a heart attack. And of course, it would be nice to meet a great many people.

Lots of artists. Almost every painter or painting. I have also been inspired by paintings that are not so good, and by painters that I do not consider excellent. But I find things that I can use in them as well.
Titian’s times, Venetian painting, the late Renaissance, Baroque painting (Rubens, Velasquez) are my main influences. Their legacy is an inexhaustible source of inspiration in terms of technique as well as content. And of course, I also watch my contemporaries.

Well, I am also just at the start of my career. :-) You need to be sharp, whatever path you decide to follow. You need to perform 100% in your field, use the opportunities, or even create opportunities and use them, exploit them with empathy. Not with force. You need to make compromises to some extent, and work a lot. Don’t whine. It is easy to complain. Find solutions instead.

Very few. I usually finish them or get mad and paint it over.