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Slovensky

Vlasta Žáková: Death of a Porcelain Doll

Invitations Studio of Fiber Art Textiles

We cordially invite you to the opening of the exhibition by Slovak artist Vlasta Žáková entitled "Death of a Porcelain Doll" curated by Janka Babušiaková

Where:

  • DOT. Contemporary

    • Jurkovičova Heating Plant, Bottova 1, Bratislava

When:

 

Curator:

  • Jana Babušiaková

 

Annotation

The works of Vlasta Žáková, who has long utilized the properties of textiles in her art, often capture glimpses into the world of contemporary female protagonists in stitched objects and paintings. The title of her latest solo exhibition at Dot Contemporary Gallery reads like something out of a detective story or true crime series, where female victims and their violent departure from the world play a central role. Fragments of female bodies are overgrown with fungi and accompanied by beautiful but parasitic lichens, evoking decay and decomposition. However, their significance is not literal but metaphorical.

Žáková's delicate and feminine heroines, wrapped in luxurious fabrics, lace, and fur, hidden in the comfort of their modern "boudoirs"—neat houses in suburban developments behind high walls—lose themselves. In their quest for perfection, they suffocate and perish internally, often surrounded by a mix of contrasting patterns and materials that the artist combines in her maximalist fabric collages. Machine embroidery adds an expressive drawing-like layer to this glamorous tale. Thread is used both to subtly depict the beauty of female faces and the chaotic intertwining mycelium, reminiscent of another feminine element—long, flowing hair. Conformity and the maintenance of a perfect facade despite unfulfilled expectations are a gilded cage with no escape.

Jana Babušiaková

Vlasta Žáková: Death of a Porcelain Doll - banner

Mgr. Art Vlasta Žáková ArtD. (born 1981 in Rožňava)

is a graduate of the Department of Fine Arts and Intermedia at the Faculty of Arts, Technical University in Košice (2000–2006) and completed her doctoral studies at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava (2013–2017). She has received several awards, including being a finalist for the 333 Prize at the National Gallery in Prague (2008 and 2010), the Jury Prize at the Skúter II Biennial in GJK Trnava (2009), and the Ego Art Prize in Bratislava (2007). She has participated in residencies at the Red Gallery in London and within the K.A.I.R. Košice program in 2013. Her work consistently explores personal and contemporary social themes through the layering and stitching of textile materials using both hand and machine embroidery. Her early works consisted of small textile objects and paintings depicting visions of devastated, depopulated landscapes regenerating after destruction. In contrast, she has also created large-scale, heavily embroidered compositions depicting the rises and falls of partygoers and nightlife figures. An important part of her work includes life-sized textile sculptures and costume sculptures for performance art. Her textile modeling captures the last barroom drunks as well as monochromatic beings from a parallel world installed in darkened rooms illuminated with UV lights. Her recent works reflect the gray concrete culture of new housing in isolated satellite towns, as well as intimate series about the loss of unborn children at any stage of pregnancy and the accompanying pain.