About The Artist

I was born in Czechoslovakia and studied at the Hollar School of Visual Arts in Prague. After graduating and working as a graphic designer, I lived a year in France, then moved to the United States, where I began to work in New York City in advertising, both as a graphic designer and computer graphic artist. I did this for many years, but in the end the work seemed unfulfilling and constricting, and eventually I moved to Kent CT, and started to pursue my main interest full time - creating sculptural work, kinetic whimsical objects, assemblages and videos. I do appreciate the current creative work made or performed for example by Marina Abramovic, Andy Goldsworthy, James Tyrrell, Laurie Anderson, the way they have pushed boundaries and broken new ground, and can imagine there are many possible exciting future art forms. But I also love folk art and outsider art, and feel nostalgic about the past, which is being lost. And old things still fascinate me - how well they are (usually) made, how well they function, the patina and wear, and the history they reveal. Therefore I try to incorporate them in my work as much as possible. Regarding the creative process – I would say that the accumulated residues of happiness and sorrows of the past, and of course impressions and contemplation in the present somehow combine in my work. Some pieces are serious, other nostalgic, some amusing. Many times the idea comes first - sometimes it is subconscious like in a dream, or scribbling while on the phone, reading, observation - and then I try to find and make the appropriate elements to express the thought. Other times when I see or find an interesting object I imagine using it as a centerpiece of some project - sometimes this works, other times the object just sits and waits for the right time. My work is 3D, mostly framed or placed in wall enclosures that I build out of salvaged wood. I like to work with recycled materials and find it satisfying to look at the finished piece and see how a previously worthless piece of metal or wood becomes something else altogether – unique, and hopefully a more interesting object.