Res Artis Awards: the residency of Ivana Radovanovic at Art Centre KulttuuriKauppila

During Mediterranea 17 Young Artists Biennale Res Artis, Worldwide Network of Artist Residencies was invited to choose two artists, among the participants, to be involved in residencies.
Two of Res Artis members, KulttuuriKauppila in Finland and Villa Ruffieux Residency Program in Switzerland awarded a fully funded artist residency.
The selected ones were Ivana Radovanovic (KulttuuriKauppila Art Centre) and Riccardo Giacconi (Villa Ruffieux).

Ivana Radovanovic concluded her residency few days ago, working on the artwork called “You don’t have a soul. You are the soul. You have a body”.

The artwork is located in the environmental park of Ii. The opening will be September 23 at 2 pm.

Ivana describes her work in this way:

“My art work deals with issues regarding inner freedom, temporality, emptiness and human body that is given to us. The sculpture gives me large breadth and fullness. The forms are associative, mostly of figurative character, amorphous, have large-scale formats and their non-defining state best describes the issues I am interested in. Mostly, I use materials which have lost their basic function such as: jute bags, fishing nets, wool, hay and ground. And that “used and discarded ” feature of material represents an excellent starting point for my work. My aim is to rename them and put them again into machine.

The theme of temporality and emptiness is something that basically defines every human being. And our occupation represents a counterweight to these terms. Due to imperfections and chaos we live in, I think that only through working on it, we can push the boundaries and talk about improvement. If an artist manages to weave this into his/ her work, there is a good chance to impart it further on, to the viewer.

What I strive for, is to become a part of the Holy Trinity (artist, work and viewer)
I have always been excited about new situations and places that have yet to be discovered, in fact, how the elements required for the work of art are built. The most important is the process, to be in it, to get accustomed to the space in which the work is created, as well as to find appropriate space for its setting, where it will later, on its own and in interaction with everything it is surrounded by, have its own life.

While I am working, I am on a mental journey and I never know where I will get to. But that is something that occupies my mind. There is always one or more sketches in my head, but, also, materials and space are involved in the creation of my future work.

They are the bearers of form. If the viewer manages to hook on this process and be part of it, then I may consider my work as a successful one. And the only thing the viewer should do is to join you on this adventure and believe you along the way. Surely, it is not funny at all.”