Project description

In her project White place Mira Podmanicka creates a place for relaxation, rest and contemplation. A comfortable armchair, complete with pillows, is set alongside a lamp in a small, open room marked out by white floor, ceiling and walls. Sewn layers of soft material deepen the impression of softness and comfort.On the white background, which is sewn together from fabric and polyester filling, Podmanicka has embroidered images inspired by the surrounding world and everyday events. They depict real and unreal things, patterns, stories, memories and dreams, unified into a complex piece. They reflect the world around us, make layers, overlay each other; the newer ones cover the older ones. They are defined by organic, not systematic, growth, and by accumulation. Layers overlap, but the bottom ones can still just about be seen, and there are also still empty, white spaces remaining, ready for future embellishments.

Artistic Statement

My works speak about human existence, problems, meetings, changes that happen everyday, mistakes and excuses, sorrows. I like to mention the problem, to bring it on, so people can see it through my art and think about it. I want people to be more aware, more receptive. I do fragile, obscure works to make people look for them and think about them. Some of my pieces last only for a short while.My pieces can be everyday objects seen in a new way. They are themselves and represent something else at the same time. It is a game, a mystery, a hidden message. Not everything we see is what it seems. We have to consider every minute; we have to keep in mind many things and have an idea of the next step, to find the meaning or to try to reach it.Because I am interested in objects and their history, and in observing their transformations, their adjustments, how people change them while using them, or simply their presence, I work with unstable material. I use the form of embroidering a silhouette to create an autobiographical space filled with known objects, outlines, shadows, images, portraits and memories, which in a way define me.I do installations, site-specific art, objects, actions – usually presented as photographs, but combining painting, sculpture, textile and fashion design. I consider a painting a three-dimensional work, because it has the third dimension, and a work in textiles the same, because of the canvas. And I want to show the back, the unseen side.