Solo exhibition ‘Living drops of the water lived’ at Watertower gallery Letna, Prague, 2021.

Freedom could be understood as a dive into one's own depth, into one's own intimacy. One can’t get lost in oneself, wherever swimming, breathing or existing. An installation of drops of water, a symbol of purity and freedom was created in the quarantine period of solitude in the intimate space of a Prague apartment during the first wave of coronavirus in the Czech Republic. Feelings of freedom are built into ourselves in our own vision and maturity. Every new day a new drop of water was created. Sixty-five objects reflect the uniqueness of our days and human existence. Freedom can be discovered at the moment when one remains with themselves in any quiet and clean space. The coronavirus period forced me to stay at home, in quarantine, in the isolation.

A drop of water as a symbol of the feeling of freedom even in restrictive and cramping life situations can only be given by ourselves. It’s important to liberate from the destructive concept and encourage us to find a sense of contentment and peace in any space where we can swim in our imagination and purify ourselves. Freedom is symbolized by the value that surrounds us and surpasses us. Inner purification is mirrored outside. It forms like an ocean, drop by drop, in which it’s possible to swim on the surface and immerse ourselves in the beauty of our depths. The importance is to see freedom comprehensively. To find purification everywhere around us and within us. Life is like the ocean and we are a drop of water. Humanity should be part of a pure complex. Create it and protect it. 

Human being matures from protecting oneself by internal pollution to the enhancement (enrichment) of the outside. Nature and water without boundaries are infinite. Water masses form from drops of water and clump into rivers and these are part of an endless ocean with a distant horizon. Every single pure drop matters.

Video of installation ‘drops of water’, hand-painted, glazed ceramic, 2020

Freedom is closely related to love. Only if we can give freedom to ourselves, we can give it to others. But many relationships bring pitfalls and obstacles to happiness and freedom. If a drop of water is a symbol of freedom, then an oil slick on the surface of the water symbolizes pollution and a sense of lack of freedom. The stain pollutes the surface of a pure, infinite world. Just as many man-made environmental disasters pollute the surface of the water. Water pollution by an oil slick will forever disrupt and damage the aquatic ecosystem and water health. As in human relations, if we cause injuries, we are left with wounds and pollution similar to oil slicks on the water. As in human relations, if we cause injuries, we are left with wounds and pollution similar to oil slicks on the water. Wounds are present even after a long time, although invisible. Unhealthy relationships can grow into addictions and unhealthy bonds. The material  from which the installation, “The oil slicks” is made, the rough fireclay ceramic medium, symbolizes the unhealthy relationships we capture ourselves into. The pure drop of water represented by the air is replaced by an oil slick that suffocates any organism with growth potential. It happened recently to the Czech river Bečva, where toxic substances were probably discharged from a chemical factory Déza nearby, where cyanide killed more than 40 tons of fish. It is one of the largest environmental disasters in the Czech Republic in the last decade. Pay close attention to nature and its protection, as well as to our relationships in which you can swim healthier without drops of oil stains.

The inspiration for the creation of a set of dishes "Oil slicks on water" comes from objects of fine art installations “Drops of water” and “The oil slicks”. The idea highlights a huge ecological catastrophe that occurred in the Czech Republic on the river Bečva during the coronavirus pandemic. It is a reaction to the reckless release of toxic substances into the waters, rivers, seas and into oceans. The idea tends to think that everything we release into the water is reflected on our plate, in our own organism. Inner purification is mirrored outside. It’s important to approach the place where we live sensitively, to protect it and to be interested in protecting the waters in our immediate surroundings. We always have to start from ourselves when we want to change a world into a better place.

The collection "Oil slicks on water" is dedicated to Arnika. I will use the part of the sales to help the non-profit organization Arnika to search for the culprit who caused the ecological catastrophe on Bečva. Another part will help me to produce more works with an environmental (ecological) subtext, which aims to help and protect nature.