Exhibition / LINDA VIKOVÁ, FROM DUSK TO DAWN
After six years, Linda Viková presents her current work in a solo exhibition, again at the Nova Gallery
Photo: Martin Tomečko.
In the meantime, it was possible to see her work in several local and international group exhibitions. An attentive viewer could notice that her work metamorphoses during this period. The change took place along several lines simultaneously: material, technological and content – and resulted in a completely new author’s programme.
The move away from porcelain towards clay and stoneware goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the technology of casting in plaster moulds. Instead, Linda hand-presses ceramic material into plaster moulds, which serve as a building base that she then freely manipulates. For this purpose, she uses only one basic shape, transforming the clay impression into new forms each time with further interventions. These she further remodels and transforms by various interventions into solitary author’s pieces. The initial shape, although at times only implied, by its constant presence formally unites the individual pieces into a coherent collection.
Although this approach makes it easy to see the individual pieces as sculptural objects, their potential is entirely utilitarian. Vases, lidded vessels and bowls modelled in highly fired stoneware are destined to become a living part of the interior. Linda consciously chooses utilitarianism as a manifesto for a life stance in a contemporary world in which purposelessness is an ecological transgression.
Photo: Martin Tomečko.
In addition, each of the vessels stimulates the viewer’s imagination by naming them appropriately, and so in addition to a purposeful object and visual experience, we get a little story from Linda as a bonus. She conveys Norse mythology through the light vase named Sól and its dark counterpart Māni. From them, a smaller vase called Eugénia with the title in turn refers to the important personality of Slovak ceramics Eugénia Lugsová. So far, Linda has grasped the night as a theme through several objects. The logical outcome is the title of the exhibition From Dusk till Dawn, which does not only refer to the time limit of the night. It also includes a message of natural forces, which are both an inspiration for Linda and a content that she tries to draw the viewer’s attention to through her ceramics. The rest is up to his sensitivity.
Photo: Martin Tomečko.
Photo: Martin Tomečko.
Photo: Martin Tomečko.