ARTIST STATEMENT

My work is thematically related to new technologies and social networks and the question of how they alter human perception, communication and language. I’m particularly interested in how they influence the experience and expression of emotions. Although my work is predominantly autobiographical, I often express myself in my projects through alter egos, which allow me to speak through other “tongues/ languages.” The use of an alter ego helps me to objectify situations or look for other ways of sensitivity, developing empathy and renaming feelings. My work consists of sound, performative and visual elements. I connect these spheres via text, which is usually transformed into the lyrics of the song, voiceover for a video, an audio story or the scenario for a performance. 

Recently I have been exploring the interconnections between sound and text and its final presentation in a medium of a collective performance. I am interested in the collectivity of a choir, as a more resonant voice.  

For me, expressing by voices combined with lyrics and sound make me an important bearer of information, emotions and ultimately experience. The inspiration for the chorus is my experience in the female folk ensemble Lada, as well as the musical, theatre and religious background that shaped my childhood and adolescence.

- The context of my work relates to contemporary performance tendencies in combination with musical elements. As an example I would like to mention the work of Lithuanian artist Lina Lappelyte. I perceive the performance as a format that exists for the “here and now”; a natural means of expression where the sound, text, choreography are combined. I perceive the performance as space for gathering, sharing and listening.

My sources of inspiration include my own experience or the experience of the philosophical Other. I am also inspired by the interconnection of text and music by artist and musician Jenny Hval. Another reference for me is the work of Ursula K Le Guin.

- I think that I approach my work with sensitivity and empathy, which I try to present to the viewer or listener as my own intimate contribution, which I give it to them as a space for their own imagination. Ritualism, authentic testimony and sort of spirituality appear in my work. I try to combine the poetized utterance with sound and visuality, transforming it into a complex enjoyment. 

- My working process is research-based and analytical. I always start with a text, influenced by research, listening and everyday situations. I build the stories from a combination of my own experience and the experience of a “researched object.” The text is later transformed into the final medium. The medium I choose has to correspond with a “researched object.” The medium is always tied to the topic I am dealing with and I evaluate as the most appropriate way of expression. What is important for me is the process of work, as my projects are usually long-term and built on prior research.

- My current interest and research is about sound and communication and their relationship they create between humans and nonhuman species. 

The first part of my interest is the idea of collective voices represented in a choir. The merging of diverse voices, coming together becoming one voice, creating a composition. I see a choir as a possibility to gather multiple voices and sounds, which through improvisation can create a performance, a space for a conversation, a prayer, and or an experience worth feeling and enjoying. I see a choir not necessarily as an ensemble of singers but rather as an ensemble of listeners. 

This idea of collective voices sparks my interest to research more about how blue whales use sound waves to communicate. I am interested in learning how understanding this can help me be a better vocalist and a listener, specially considering the perspective of a nonhuman vocalists such as Blue Whales. 

I am currently working on finishing a book about Ursula Uwe. It consists of a narrative story, poems and illustrations.

My vision is also to work on the first LP by the music - artistic duo Cloudy Babies, which I am working on together with an artist Eva Rybářová.