Noa Ironic

Noa Ironic lives and works in Tel Aviv and was raised and educated in an Orthodox Jewish household. Ironic is a Shenkar Multidisciplinary Art School graduate and is represented by Rosenfeld Gallery in Tel Aviv, Israel. Ironic received the Emerging Artist Award from the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation Center and the America Israel Cultural Foundation Award. Her work has been exhibited at the Spring Exhibition in Kunsthal Charlottenburg, Copenhagen, Denmark; Freshpaint Art Fair Special Edition, Tel Aviv, Israel; Bull in a China Shop, Tchotchke Gallery, New York, NY; The Flow, Fir Gallery, Beijing, China; House Party, Carlye Packer, Los Angeles, CA and a residency group at Unit1 Gallery, London, UK. Her solo exhibition Ride Your Ego was exhibited at Plan X Gallery, Milan, IT, in 2020, and her solo show Much Respect was presented at Rosenfeld Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2021. Ironic is pursuing her MFA at RISD, and her work is in private and public collections worldwide.

Collect Bean: What does growth mean to you?

Noa Ironic: Honestly, at the moment, I think growth is patience. At least for me.

I started my MFA this past September, and it really helped me slow down a bit and really focus on my process and not just exhibitions, etc…of course, taking a step back can also make you feel like life is passing you by, but patience is the key.

Collect Bean: What does an ideal day in your studio look like?

Noa Ironic: I start every day by reorganizing my table and sweeping my floor. I find it gets me into the right mindset to work. Then, probably a good solid six hours of painting and looking at my work pondering it. I really like having friends walk in when I work, I am very ADHD  so when someone talks to me while I work it helps me focus.

Any day I go in and work is great, no pressure, even if I dont do much.

Collect Bean: What does your painting process look like from start to finish?

Noa Ironic: All my paintings start out as drawings. I make a lot of drawings in my process to think and understand the image I'm trying to create. Recently, I started doing monotypes to think more about the painted aspect of future work. Once I'm done priming and prepping, it's pretty straightforward: much music and dancing are involved in my creative process. 

If there is joy in the process, the painting turns out better; if I find myself miserable, I will probably give up on it cause it wasn't meant to be.

Collect Bean: If you could be in a show with any artist, who would it be and why?

Noa Ironic: Sara Birns and I keep joking about making a show that’s just horses because of our mutual obsession. It would be, shes a’s an amazing artist.

Collect Bean: How does where you grew up influence your work?

Noa Ironic: Extremely. All my figures and colors are very Middle Eastern; it's important to me to share the love I feel for where I’m from.

Collect Bean: What is one of your current goals as an artist?

Noa Ironic: I just turned 30, and my birthday wish was a New York solo show.

Collect Bean: How do you balance your practice with your daily life?

Noa Ironic: Don't need to. I don’t have a life.

Collect Bean: Do you have a saying that you live by?

Noa Ironic: Everything is terrible, and that's great.