Gallery | karlacurcinski

Green

Work that was exhibited at the 54th Zagreb salon of visual arts in Zagreb, Croatia. The theme "Without Anesthesia" prompted me to reinterpret the very concept where I touched upon with the difficulties of artists of penetrating the art scene where an individual encounters a cruel reality on which he was not warned or ready for. The artist's artistic freedom alone does not guarantee success or interest of others for his art (reality). He makes what is nonverbal and sensual, what is incomprehensible and empty to a person until he adds a program of analysis and explanation of the work rather than leaving it and deciding to look at the work once and with that comprehension move forward. A dose of coldness and fear is omnipresent and it makes the process of success alone very difficult, that is, to enter the art scene. The scene is rough and ungraceful. It punishes good and hard work and nurtures novels written with one acrylic stroke. The artist eventually comes to unwanted mental brakes, questions about uncertainty, tension and collapsing and so his realistic potential. This exhausting process can be seen as a ritual of initiation through which an individual emerges as one Ares or we can look at it as a great shortage, hole and distressing period of oppression and underestimation as the artist does not fit into social norms and therefore emerges out of the social norms.

I'm here for a moment

Work I did and that became a poster for Vizkultura. I tried to portray the moment when you realize that in that exact moment everything is how it's supposed to be and you are completely happy and satisfied with it. I would say that that is a time- stopping sensation. Overwhelmed by urban life and in a constant race for a better one, I forget to be, enjoy and share happiness.

All in one place

Work I did and that became a cover/poster for the band Turisti which was a part of the MENT festival in Ljubljana.

Everything I need to know about life

One morning, leaving the Health Center, unintentionally I see a piece of A4 paper on the naked wall. For some reason, that paper attracted me, I was interested in what was written on it, although I could not expect much except for pharmaceutical advertisements, classical advertisements of various courses etc. The paper was in the psychiatric department so I went a few steps forward to read it. The title was in big capital letters that said: "Everything I Need to Know About Life" (original title: "All I Really Need to Know I Learned In Kindergarden"), and contained 14 points / rules that, if we use them carefully, make up our life more beautiful, simpler, idyllic. By reading these rules I find that I use some of them myself, of course, unconsciously. What fascinated me was the fact that these rules were read to children in Croatia and they have been teaching them since kindergarten days and that it was now on the wall in the psychiatric department where a large number of people come up with psychological problems and problems that accompany them in everyday life . It encourages me to think of the contrast of the two extremes, simple and complex in one, the child's reflection and that of an adult's reflection on life. In this series of works I'm dealing with these rules. I decide on a more or less free display, somewhat childish, which depicts each and every rule as I understand it, looking back somewhere on my own life as well. I try to bring up the simplicity that most people give up after a certain age and replace them with an analytical way of thinking. There would be a lot of discussions about these rules, given the fact that people today some of them would not recommend to others, use them themselves, because of the society in which we live in, for personal reasons, and from "pure logic". After reading these rules, my problems become nothingness and void, my lamenting stops, and a wave of gratitude and satisfaction comes instantly, though only in the short run.

„Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation.

Ecology and politics and equality and sane living. Take any of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if all - the whole world - had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had a basic policy to always put thing back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are - when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.“ – Robert Fulghum

San Francisco

During a three-month residency in San Francisco, USA I developed a general impression of the city itself and the state. At each step, I was comparing the city with my homeland that is the complete opposite of the extroverted US. What I found quite intriguing was the transition from static to dynamic, from silent to loud, from small spaces to "endless" space. I myself am not used to such an environment so I decided to solve these works extremely minimalistic, as it does not befit such a huge and proud country. I emphasize the repetition of my everyday life. That which was calm, familiar and closer to my home, the things I have encountered every day and those which gave me feelings of my home.

Dream of reality

Dream of reality is a series of works which includes the exploration of memory, passing of time and their interconnectivity. The series is based on my living memories and my dependency on them. When I hear a good song that is unknown to me I have the tendency to write down the lyrics and find it on the Internet. To me, music is a kind of diary where I write down my days in the form of notes, and those songs later represent that specific period where I can, at least somewhat, remember certain events which happened at that time. A specific song I discovered during my residency at Belfast was the spark that fueled this whole concept. Considering that I always remember to return to a certain song, this one prompted me to rethink my memory. While listening to it I remembered a small segment of that day which was marked by that song. And while I am completely aware of this well-known phenomenon, I went further, looking for more songs since then and trying to remember moments when a song was at its peak and I was carefully listening to it and trying to share it with my surroundings.

Further thinking has led me to think of my own past, my past experiences, lack of memories where I can't discern past realities from dreams, the interconnectedness of past and present, the impact of what it leaves on the future, and whether it leaves any impact at all. I have the feeling that I am in a dream which I can't rewind, into which I can't return and see what happened, or that half of it was just a dream because those memories are so minimal that they can't be identified as such. The intervention of another person becomes necessary for me to confirm their general existence.

I have decided to show smaller and bigger memories, some insignificant, while some won't be forgotten but it's unnecessary to document them. I begin the chronology with my earliest memories, those in which I need help to clarify. I move through my own memory, emphasize important changes in life, turning points, traumas, happiness, consistency of my imaginary world, sadness, death. In my work, I deal with problems of memory, it's unsuccessful maintenance and recall. Within that memory there is a certain flow of time which continues and binds the past with the present.

Sea

In this series of works with a nostalgic accent, I put forward my endless love for the sea and summer. These works have been resolved in an extremely minimalistic way by presenting the essential moments and emotions associated with that period.

110 years of Academy of Fine Arts

Poster I made for the 110 years of the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb.

The art of cooperation

Illustration covers I made for SKICA magazine, the magazine of the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. Although they weren't chosen for the official cover they were still used in the magazine for other articles.

Lovers

In this work I am dealing with issues of sexuality and shame. Through the series of drawings I emphasize the beauty of the human body of a couple and at the same time shame on it because of its imperfections.

Timeless

Although a person constantly changes, however, some basic characteristics remain and form him as an individual. Often prompted by the question of my own existence and who and what I am, I am constantly trying to put myself in a group where I'd belong and where I can truly say that that is me. I recall that there are moments of timelessness, being and that they are mostly related to my stay in nature. With a nostalgic accent. Excluding all that superficial I love and I do not like have come to these five factors that are immutable and true. Each element contains its authentic scent, taste, and appearance, and make up almost the same effect as in its natural habitat. I combine natural materials and technology that would be the "ingredients" of my being. I use 5 elements of this four from the world of nature (hail, Mimoza, Sea, and Lavender) and one of the world of technology (LED lamps) that in my case, because of their visual, olfactory and taste stimuli, make me to stop thinking, create a unique atmosphere and create life alone. They do not take on a new role other than metaphorical. These elements do their homework everyday but I just do not add enough praise for stopping the time and discovering the bivouac.

Madamme Buffault

Illustrations for a poster I made for the opera Madamme Buffault by Boris Papandopulo. Although none of these weren't chosen for the official poster it was used for the cover of the programme booklet. A collaboration with the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.

Agrippina

Illustrations for a poster I made for the opera Agrippina by G. F. Händel. My work was chosen for the official poster for the opera, a collaboration with the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.

The process of change

The series of works under the same name came from an urge to eject, to clarify what I spent a lot of time thinking and not talking about. The theme itself is located abroad during my exchange stay in Northern Ireland, Belfast. The name of the work is "Process of change" because I never felt excessive sense of life as it was then. I've always circulated in safe routines. It didn’t fit me anymore, so I wanted to feel that rush for autonomy, independence, existence, change. Before the long-awaited departure to Belfast, I felt a bitter change in my routine, it was disrupted and as such it disappeared completely. Permeated by good thoughts and not understanding this change completely, I left. In such a short period of time, I’ve experienced a full set of changes and emotions. I don’t know how to juggle, so I couldn’t even balance these changes. Chaos existed even before Belfast, chaos existed for a while, chaos exists. Somehow I understood it later and thought that I might function best in chaos. To experience so much in such a short time is not so exciting. Days of absolute sadness, I would dare to say depression, madness, nostalgia, psychic and even physical pain, I never felt like before. I had the desire to go somewhere and never come back. I wanted my comfort in my homeland, in my home, in my room. As time went by I began to adapt, accept changes, embrace problems, and overcome them. Every now and then I noticed changes, even with myself and in my own mind. Today when I look at all this, when I recall all these events, I'm lucky. I am happy to have survived and gone through everything that was given to me by that obscene cup of emotions. I managed to throw them out and leave them on paper, every moment of my life, every change. I pulled the better side of the story rather then the sad side. Today I'm thinking this way, tomorrow maybe I won’t. Nothing is constant except change.

Loneliness

The illustrations shown are from a series of works under the name Loneliness, made during my five-month stay in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In these works, I leave a personal character and feeling that I have experienced while I was in Belfast. Forced and limited to rely on social networks in order to hear with loved ones without physical contact left me in a kind of chaos, loneliness. In this works, I have linked to three very famous American astronauts who fled in 1969 to the Moon, but not all of them walked on the surface of the Moon. One of the three, Michael Collins, had to stay in the aircraft orbiting around the Moon. Going to the other side of the Moon, Collins remains without radio connection with Earth and his colleagues Armstrong and Aldrin for 48 minutes, and in his unique position became the loneliest man a man has ever been from the beginning of humanity.

Looking for more information I found some data where Voyager I., who was sent in 1977 to explore the outer gaseous planets and further, that included a panel which contained information on humanity if it ever came to any meeting with other creatures. What fascinated me on the board is the song that represents the human emotion of loneliness. The songwriter is Blind Willie Johnson and The song is called “Dark was the night, cold was the ground”. The song does not contain any words but only humming. Listening to that song I was thinking of the weight of that meaning, and how this specific song was chosen to describe loneliness to space beings. Thinking about it I came to a humorous reinterpretation of a story where Michael Collins and Laika meet somewhere in the universe where they are no longer alone, where

they are in the company of one another. Here I wanted to show how lonely we are in reality, we are never truly alone. At least not to this extreme in which a few found themselves as M. Collins and unlucky Laika who was sent to space in 1957. It is in our nature to socialize and be surrounded by people. Man is a social being. This is what technology shows us today and social networks through which we can easily get in touch with people who are dear to us, even if only in virtual form. A person will attract another person, whether they want it or not. This social attachment and deviation are animated, it is constantly on the move, like orbiting. This balance is visible: closeness, loneliness, acquaintance, deviation, propinquity, loneliness, and so on. And so we can endlessly animate those emotions that accompany us in our everyday life.