After objecting the submission to something that hurts us,
a much more difficult and longer journey starts,
that of knowing yourself.
Traditions can be surprising in a way, how we are looking at them with fresh eyes. The context of the society is constantly changing but if we look back, we can get inspired in many ways. We can either deny the context in which the things were put or add the contemporary ideas on the past. Also some things from the past, for example those which were closely rooted to the nature and natural cycles, can be inspiration in todays world.
In my work specifically, the tradition is something I was observing through my whole life, and as an idea which would make no sense in todays society. Crocheting and patch-working as a domain of woman, who were mostly staying home, taking care of others and the house itself, and also valued through their manual skills. Me personally, I value the traditional manual work, in the context of machine production, of easily reproductive things.
Also what is made by hands, is unique, with its imperfections, asymmetry and that makes it human.
Sensitivity can be overwhelming, but for me it is a necessary element for creation. Although it might appear as dangerous it can be cultivated as a source of strength both artistic, and in our lives.
Prototyping is for me a fundamental part of the process
of materializing an idea.
The pictures I have been using in my recent paintings were found and downloaded from the online database. Pictures, once taken by real photographers, showing real persons, that are uploaded to the cloud impossible to reach and manipulate again. Girls who once were photographed on these pictures are in the online drawer under the label "sexy girls, posing next to the luxury cars".
The physical fragmentation of the once found and printed picture, deconstructing, cutting them into pieces and putting them back together in a different order by sticking, creates the whole picture into abstract composition, showing parts of the bodies, materials, organically and artificially blending them together into one. The women who once in the online database lost their identity are getting anonymity through the painting.
Like when you make art, when you bring a child into this world, you have some ideas and preoccupations but your creation has a life of its own and develops in ways you wouldn’t expect and I find this as one of the most interesting elements of creation.
I think these two forces are linked and coexist. Remembrance and knowledge of previously made mistakes is what sets the basis of avoiding them in the future. In my work, I believe that this concept of repetition shows up through my patterns.
As humans we have senses which we can also strengthen or numb, and technology is exactly doing that, focusing our attention more on visual and hearing stimulation.
However we need to remain conscious about this effect of technology on our senses and also focus on developing the rest of our sensing for example from experiencing nature which we are inseparable part of.
All rights of image are reserved to the artist Bety Krňanská herself.
Artworks by Bety Krňanská available on oblogallery.com you find here.
