This cycle of works on the theme of landscape, was created as a result of the recent, universal experience of pandemic-induced isolation and risk, as well as looming threats – the results of ever-increasing and dramatic global climate changes – as well as my experience of nomadic life at the furthest coordinates of Africa and Asia.
By returning to Croatia – and what is more, to an untouched, unurbanized landscape – I was afforded the opportunity to find new roots from which this cycle grew, imbued with an awareness of the importance of cyclical changes, the passage of seasons and the need to harmonise with natural cycles and the coexistence with and respect for nature, and the cyclic recurrence of personal and social changes and phases.
On a more personal level, I chose Eugenio Montale due to the fact that I find parallels between his life and my own. In Montale's collection, there is a strong presence of his native Liguria. Like in a personal diary, he depicts the rugged coastline of Cinque Terre where he was born and to which he returned every summer of his youth. Just like Montale, every summer I return to my family house on the island of Zverinac, where my family stems from, and there I find similar images to those Montale describes, but in a different context. In that respect, the project is based on the process of reconstructing personal memories and documentation of comparative experiences, mine as well as the poet’s, which are brought together on the canvas as comparative diaries.
