ARTIST PROFILE

Rita Koszorús

  • Slovakia (b. 1989 in Bratislava)
  • Currently in Bratislava, Slovakia.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Recently my work has been moving forward along two thematic lines. The first one is my own identity that has an ambivalent character and comes from my Hungarian-Slovak origin and of minority-feeling. Under this thematic circle I use inter-subjective environment, however, I draw inspiration from local and worldwide political, social and family events. In most cases I work metaphorically with individual ideas. I created a certain "personal" visual language of plant eclectics, through which I show human characteristics. Based on their appearance I create unnatural herbal compositions.

The second line concerns identity of painting, which is in my opinion very fragile.  By this I do not question the historically firm position of this medium, I rather appeal to current trends, possibilities and limits of painting and the painter herself. My intention is to hack the stereotypical perception of "painting", i.e. to move its current assumptions, ask and answer questions, criticise and reflect and play. I aim at capturing aspects, opinions and criticism of artistic backgrounds in which we live and which shape my everyday life. I do not perceive the medium of painting as a still hanging picture but broader - as a kind of visual art, which is now once again seeking its position and function in the world of art. I see the medium of painting as a problem or a theme. The area of painting is traditionally a territory of tension between motifs, colours and shapes. From my point of view the act of painting is also interesting.  I challenge the well-established perception of painting as a ready hanging painting by strategy of participation or destruction which changes the very concept of painting. This creates a kind of self- destructive paradox. I am a painter, which criticizes the painting itself, making it impossible to express her passion for this medium. My Private dichotomy is mirrored in the dichotomy of painting.

Questions around definition of painting's position in the world of art, the relationship of artist (work) and curator (its interpretation), the artist and the viewer, are asked  for example through involvement of a firearm in the process of creation and extinction of the painting. Shooting and therefore physical destruction of the image by the curator or the audience refers to the relational dichotomy: on the one hand, the work of artists is irreversibly impaired - damaged, on the other there is a new and unique work as a result of participation in a performative painting. Searching for meaning, position and new forms of media in the current world of art is also a kind of extended search for a place of an individual with dual cultural identity.