Making a rubbing in Walhalla Ravine, C*lumbus OH. Photo by Geren Heurtin.
Living in Maine
My work comes from a sense of belonging to the more-than-human world—the greater community of landscape and animals that includes yet decenters the human. I draw on the folklore of my native Czech Republic in relating to the landscape where I now live. The fairy tales I read are filled with transforming bodies. A mother’s soul flocks to a willow tree at night, then reinhabits her human form again at dawn.
Walking in the landscape with my camera, I see porous edges that blur the lines between bodies. Scattered tufts of fur blend in with the ground, and the form of a deer’s stomach becomes a mushroom bloom. I often work outdoors at night, in the wellspring of the dark. I have the sense of being in the presence of the unknown and the unknowable. I often make charcoal rubbings of trees and other beings, and sometimes use these in the darkroom as handmade photographic negatives. Sometimes I ask fireflies to directly expose photo paper with me.
I graduated with my MFA in Art from The Ohio State University in May 2023, and earned my BA in Studio Art and Biology from Williams College in 2016. I have recently shown at Good News Arts (High Springs FL) and ROY G BIV Gallery (Columbus OH). Currently my work is part of the traveling exhibition Scatter Terrain, a collaborative project by curators Shanon Egan and Anthony Cervino of Ejecta Projects. Scatter Terrain has lived in six galleries since 2021 and will be on view at Lebanon Valley College (Annville PA) from November 3–December 15, 2023.
My work has been supported by the Alumni Grants for Graduate Research and Scholarship at The Ohio State University, as well as the Berkshire Taconic Foundation and Assets for Artists at MASS MoCA.