Travelling, Automatism & The Round Canvas: An Interview With Marco Riha

Marco Riha is an Austrian artist based in Mexico. For Marco Riha, visual art is a spiritual pursuit which started with therapeutic self-expression before developing into abstract experiments in colours and textures.

In his works, he discovers and creates soul-stirring compositions with abstract experimentations into colours and textures that often reflect on pressing socio-political topics.

His painting “Crocodile on Fire” serves as an urgent reminder of fauna scorched by global warming catastrophes - proving art is more than just beauty in its rawest form; it's also Marco's way to address profound world issues.

Join us as we explore his incredible journey from dreaming of far-off places to actually travelling and being inspired by the world around him!

Marco Riha. Image courtesy of the artist.

SAH: Please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.

MR: Thank you, Smart Artist Hub for the invitation.
I am an automatic painter on a quest for the best. Automatism refers to creating art without conscious thought.

It all started in Sri Lanka in 1995, where my long creative journey began. Art always was a type of therapy to me, a way to process a confusing and wonderful world. For 15 years I just painted for myself, when Facebook was created I started showing my work to my friends.

From there it grew. In 2010 I decided it was time to become a professional artist, I did some shows and that was it. I went back to simply painting for myself. In 2014 I started a new abstract series called 'colour drops'.

The paintings from this new abstract period included some socio-political pieces that seemed to have struck a nerve.
Of course, it had to be 2020, when my art was published in 3 different art magazines. Since then my work has been shown in various exhibitions worldwide and I won some awards. Overall my artistic journey is a good example of stamina, just keep doing what you do, eventually, and if it is after 25 years, someone will notice.

SAH: You travelled extensively.  How did this influence you artistically?

MR: Travelling widens the horizon - hopefully.

Having had the opportunity of living in several countries worldwide over longer periods of time, certainly opened me up.
I was very eager to learn about all those different cultures and benefited enormously. Adapting to different circumstances and staying mentally flexible also helped me as an artist a lot.

Travelling satisfied the explorer in me, as the journeys became more exotic, they eventually led me to explore the vast inner worlds.

SAH: What are you working on at the moment?

Marco Riha. Blue Note. ⌀ 110 cm.

MR: I just finished 'Bue Note', back to the round canvas. I had a period where I avoided square canvases altogether to help me get out of the box.

SAH: How do you go about transforming an idea like that into a finished work?

MR: As an automatic painter my goal is to be surprised myself by my work

SAH: What kind of impact do you hope that your work has?

 MR: Ideally my work inspires, uplifts, questions and transforms.

Marco Riha. Crocodile On Fire. Mixed media on canvas. 130 x 108 cm.

SAH: Where do you get your inspiration from? Is there a particular artist that inspired your practice?

MR: The empty canvas is my inspiration, the endless possibilities it represents. In the course of my life, I had many artists that touched me though, starting with the Renaissance period in my younger years. Later I was fascinated by the surrealists and much later I found 'Les automatistes', artistic dissidents from Quebec. 

SAH: Do you remember the earliest memory of when you wanted to do what you do today?

MR: Yes, as a teenager my dream was to paint in Greece. It took ten more years before I actually did paint my first painting and it happened to be in a different country, but I got a chance to live in Greece for almost two years.

Marco Riha. Hope. Mixed media on wood panel. 80 x 202 cm.

SAH: What are you watching, listening to or following that you would recommend?

MR: I try to keep my focus on high-frequency developments in all areas of life. There is an amazing waking-up process unfolding right now, where I see people from all backgrounds come to the same conclusions.

Which is, we are witnessing an enormous jump in consciousness. The art of living is to trust the process and not be distracted by the end-time noise. Imagine the perfect world that we already carry inside us. Everything that helps me achieve that, is welcome.

Of course, you cannot avoid the end-time noise altogether, but I stay as far as possible away from it in the jungle of Mexico. 

SAH: What advice would you give somebody who has just started their artistic career?

MR: Create, create, create...just for you & your own pleasure and never stop.

---

More information:

🌐 Artist Website: marcoriha.com
🌐 Marco Riha on Instagram
🌐 Marco Riha on SAH