A Life Shaped by Constraint and Choice
The artistic path of Viera Šágová unfolds from Central Europe, rooted in Slovakia and closely connected to the city of Košice, where she lives and works. Her relationship with painting did not emerge suddenly but developed gradually through early training at an elementary art school, followed by contact with artists connected to the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava through a studio focused on experimental approaches beginning in 2009. These formative experiences provided her with strong technical foundations while leaving space for independent thinking. Painting became a language she carried from childhood, long before it became a full time commitment in 2015, when she consciously chose to dedicate herself to it more completely.
This path, however, was never linear or effortless. Šágová originally intended to study painting formally at the secondary level, specifically within a restoration oriented painting department that opened during her youth. Her rejection from that program marked an early rupture between aspiration and reality. At the same time, serious health challenges emerged in the form of a progressive neuromuscular condition, muscular dystrophy, which shaped not only her physical limits but also her outlook on time, endurance, and purpose. These circumstances led her to study a different field in her hometown and to approach art outside institutional structures, cultivating a deeply personal and self directed practice that continues to define her work today.
During this period of redirection, art temporarily lost its central meaning in her life. Instead of turning outward, Šágová turned inward, engaging with questions that extended beyond professional identity or creative recognition. She sought existential grounding through philosophy, Eastern spiritual traditions, and occult studies, all while working in an office environment that contrasted sharply with her artistic instincts. This search eventually brought her to Christianity, which she encountered independently of her upbringing, despite growing up during the final years of communism in Slovakia. Following the political transformation of 1989, it took nearly a decade before she embraced Christian belief through the figure of Jesus Christ and the Bible, finding in it answers that would later subtly inform her visual language.
Viera Šágová: Spiritual Inquiry Without Illustration
Faith became an integral part of Šágová’s inner life, yet it never translated into overt religious messaging within her paintings. Instead, her work reflects a restrained and thoughtful engagement with spiritual themes, favoring suggestion over declaration. For several years, she was actively involved in Christian organizations that operated bookstores and cultural spaces focused on literature, film, music, and devotional objects. This seven year period combined spiritual growth, creative exploration, and entrepreneurship, allowing her to merge intellectual inquiry with practical experience. Eventually, she transitioned toward working from home, opening a business centered on handmade creation and painting, a shift that aligned better with her health and creative rhythm.
When Christian themes appear in her visual practice, they are expressed through neutral symbolism rather than narrative scenes. Šágová often relies on black and white acrylic paint, geometric structures, and understated contrasts to explore concepts such as eternity, morality, and transcendence. Circles suggest continuity and the infinite, while simplified cosmic references evoke the universe without literal depiction. The recurring opposition of light and darkness functions as a visual meditation on good and evil, presence and absence, without prescribing a specific interpretation. This approach allows her paintings to remain open, accessible to viewers regardless of belief, while still carrying the weight of serious contemplation.
Personal loss and ongoing illness have further intensified this reflective dimension. The death of her parents following Covid, combined with the progression of muscular dystrophy, has introduced profound gravity into her lived experience. Rather than silencing her creativity, these circumstances have sharpened her urgency. Painting becomes both a means of endurance and a space of freedom, one that acknowledges suffering without becoming defined by it. This balance between discipline and vulnerability continues to guide her choices, encouraging her to explore multiple themes and methods while remaining attentive to the limits and possibilities of her own body and time.
Structure, Reduction, and the Language of Abstraction
Formally, Šágová’s work is characterized by clarity, restraint, and a strong sense of internal order. Her earlier and recurring works demonstrate a pronounced commitment to geometric abstraction, often constructed from triangles, trapezoids, circles, and carefully positioned points. These elements are arranged with precision, creating compositions that feel deliberate and grounded, even when they gesture toward metaphysical ideas rather than physical spaces. The reduced visual vocabulary encourages slow observation, allowing each shape and interval to carry significance beyond its material presence.
Light plays a central role in this visual system, functioning both as an optical device and as a symbolic force. Stark contrasts between illuminated and darkened areas heighten the emotional tension within the compositions, reinforcing themes of opposition and balance. A single point of brightness may suggest origin or revelation, while darker fields evoke silence or uncertainty. Mountains, beams, and ascendant forms appear in abstracted configurations, hinting at inner ascent or spiritual striving without resorting to figurative imagery. This economy of means gives the work a contemplative quality that resists spectacle and favors introspection.
Despite the apparent severity of her black and white works, they are not rigid exercises in control. Beneath the structured surfaces lies a sensitivity shaped by intuition and lived experience. Šágová’s background in graphic thinking informs her compositional decisions, lending her paintings a sense of coherence and legibility. At the same time, the handmade quality of her process remains visible, preserving a human presence within the abstraction. This tension between order and touch defines much of her visual identity and distinguishes her work within contemporary abstract practices.
Viera Šágová: Expansion Through Color and Continuity
In recent years, Šágová has begun to move beyond the strict parameters of monochrome abstraction, turning her attention toward color as an active and expressive force. This shift does not represent a rejection of earlier concerns but rather an expansion of them. Acrylic paints, watercolors, sprays, crayons, and phosphorescent materials introduce liquidity, saturation, and chance into her process. Color fields flow and overlap, softening the severity of geometry while preserving an underlying sense of structure. Even when compositions appear freer, they retain an internal logic shaped by her graphic sensibility.
This openness to variation reflects a broader philosophy that acknowledges the brevity of life and the necessity of creative courage. Šágová allows herself to explore multiple themes and techniques, recognizing that circumstances demand adaptability rather than fixation. Natural elements, layered imagery, and pictures within pictures enter her work, creating visual dialogues between abstraction and suggestion. These explorations are not impulsive departures but thoughtful responses to lived reality, shaped by physical limitation, emotional depth, and a persistent desire for joy within the act of painting itself.
Her working rhythm balances concentration with sustainability. Afternoons are typically devoted to painting, while mornings and evenings are reserved for online activity and business management. During 2023 and 2024, painting occupied nearly her entire day, resulting in thematic series that she continues to develop and exhibit internationally, primarily within Europe. While her relationship with art extends into graphics, fashion, and music, painting remains her primary means of expression. Looking forward, Šágová aims to strengthen her online presence and reach collectors through digital platforms, ensuring that her evolving body of work continues to circulate beyond geographic constraints while remaining grounded in authenticity and personal truth.
