Five minutes with Yana Stajno

Home is…

In my youth, it was Zimbabwe, then South Africa, but in London it has always been Haringey. I moved into my current home recently and realised that home is where my paint brushes dry.

Which shops do you rely on?

Green Guru on Alexandra Park Road and the local fruit market – I love the colours of a fruit shop, they look like an artist’s palette. In fact, this inspired me to do a series of fruit and veg paintings which became so popular I made them into prints. Carrots and cabbages at their most glamorous.

Why do you love Haringey?

I think it is a combination of green spaces and amazing people. I have always loved the energy of living in diverse communities, it adds to all our lives and helps us gain new perspectives. I think Haringey is a blueprint for other communities in what is gained when you truly value and respect people’s differences but find a common cause with them anyway.

Where do you go for a moment of quiet?

My studio in Wood Green Works – it is peaceful inside, but I can hear the hustle and bustle of Station Road, which is important to me. I like to feel that connection, so perhaps I don’t really like quiet.

A place in Haringey that has inspired your work?

I mentioned the markets, but also my allotment. In every sense this is a place where we grow together. I love to see the diversity of what is grown there. Incidentally, I love that the instructions for cleaning the toilet appear in the ten most common languages spoken in the borough.

Best meal you’ve had in the borough?

It has to be Gokyuzu on Green Lanes, it is a great neighbourhood restaurant. Turkish restaurants are always so welcoming and generous, which makes them great value. I love that the food is cooked on charcoal and of course they give you a great plate of salad – which seems to be a recurring theme in my answers.

Where in the borough would you recommend for a first date?

Beam in Crouch End. There is great variety in the menu and lots of vegan choices, which is handy on a first date before you have worked out what dietary requirements need to be negotiated. You basically sit in a mini-living room (great to have the conversations you need to get to know each other, or make a quick getaway if all goes wrong).

What’s your one rule for life?

Keep a bag packed… the pessimist in me thinks that terrible things can happen. The optimist thinks I can be spontaneous and be ready to go away at a moment’s notice.

A work of art that changed you?

The first time I saw the work of German painter Emil Nolde. I love the free expression in his work. It made me think anyone can paint, which is a philosophy I take into my workshops with people who have never painted before. It is also chilling to remember this was seen as degenerate art by the Nazis in 1930s Germany. We can’t take freedom of expression too lightly.

What should HCP readers be watching right now?

Lucky (available on Facebook), one of the Collage Arts lockdown monologues which gave voice to local women of colour. This is a great celebration of a what a creative borough we are.

What are you working on at the moment?

My new project is to put my paintings onto silk kimonos. But I am also busy making my studio into a gallery for the N22 Open Studios this month.

N22 Open Studios take place from 12th–13th November

Visit n22openstudio.com