Victoria Unikel, 47, says she used a file to grind down 1kg of gold bullion worth around £69,000 and put it into the paint used for her three-painting ‘MONEY Collection’
Victoria Unikel has caused a bit of a stir(Image: Kennedy News and Media)
An artist has sparked outrage by claiming she adds gold bullion to her paintings to ensure they’re only snapped up by the rich and famous, stating art isn’t for “uneducated, poor people”.
Victoria Unikel, who ground down 1kg of gold bullion worth a cool £69,000 ($85,000), mixed it into the paint for her ‘MONEY Collection’. The 47-year-old entrepreneur and former model reckons her art symbolises the magnetism of wealth, insisting the owner of her collection is destined for even greater riches.
She’s even boasted that since whipping up the collection, she’s bagged hefty business deals and pals who’ve peeped at the paintings have found themselves rolling in “unexpected” dough. It comes as a primary school teacher has hit the jackpot, winning a stunning £4million waterside property in the Lake District and £250,000, causing her to break her Dry January pledge in celebration.
Victoria Unikel, who ground down 1kg of gold bullion worth a cool £69,000 ($85,000), mixed it into the paint for her ‘MONEY Collection'(Image: Kennedy News & Media)
Snaps show Victoria posing in a glitzy gold bikini with her artwork, but she’s keeping the blingy pieces close to her chest for now, as they seem to be her lucky charm. The Miami-based ex-actress also spouted that art should be appreciated by those with the smarts to get it, not just any Tom, Dick or Harry.
Victoria declared: “The MONEY collection is about me channelling my energy into the paintings and it’s about how to get more money for myself and for others.
“The meaning of the paintings is that the person who has them will become wealthier. I put gold in the paintings because gold creates gold. Through the power of the law of attraction, putting gold into the paintings will bring more gold.
“My artwork is aimed at richer, wealthier people. It is to help the wealthy become wealthier. Putting gold in the art also helps to keep art accessible for the wealthy and not for poor people to enjoy.
“I think art is special and should be there for people who are educated to enjoy properly, those who understand it and can appreciate it, not just anyone.”
The showcase of three swanky paintings made quite the splash at last month’s Art Basel event in Miami, Florida, US, where celebs like 50 Cent rocked up to the glam red carpet do.
Featuring the words ‘rolls rolex’ and another with ‘yes’ spelled out using snazzy currency symbols for the Yen, Euro and Dollar, these pieces are more than meets the eye. Victoria, the artist behind the glitzy collection, let slip that she kept quiet about the hidden gold bullion in her work at first, despite punters being well impressed by the visuals alone.
Victoria Unikel with her artwork(Image: Jam Press/Victoria Unikel)
To conjure up this posh collection, she grinded down a whole 1kg gold bar while doing some mystical ritual to zap some ‘energy’ into her canvases. Then, she mixed the pricey gold dust into her paint to create the pieces – all part of her plan to craft a ‘magnet for money’ through her craft.
Victoria said: “The first showing of the money collection was at the Art Basel in Miami. We did not announce that there was gold in the paintings at this time. We wanted to get people’s impression without knowing the value of the painting.”
“This went off very well and people were taking selfies with the paintings and there was a lot of interest in them. There is around $85,000 worth of gold in the collection and weighs around 1,000 grams.
“I ground one bullion [for the collection]. I ground the gold with a special ritual and put in the painting to create a magnet for money.
“I grind up the gold bullion using a file and then I put the flakes [of gold] into the paint.”
Victoria co-founded the VUGA Media Group with her husband Gene Avakyan, a businessman who is CEO of Edison Aerospace, and she is also a children’s author, having published her debut novel in November.
Since showcasing her MONEY collection, Victoria claims she has already secured new and lucrative contracts in her other businesses and even helped her friends enjoy successes too.
She’s bagged hefty business deals and pals who’ve peeped at the paintings have found themselves rolling in ‘unexpected’ dough(Image: Kennedy News & Media)
Due to this, Victoria says she is not looking to sell her collection any time soon in the hopes that the gold paintings will help her become a “billionaire”.
Victoria said: “After I created the artwork we got very good contracts from our businesses so it actually worked [to get more money] so I decided to keep them for a while to get more money.
“Then during the exhibition my friends who saw them got unexpected money as well. I think in the future I will make much more art and will also create a gold and power collection too.
“I’m now working on a huge painting for a private collector with the same ritual for one million dollars. I am keeping them [the paintings] to become a billionaire.”