The diploma thesis of last year's AVU graduate Tereza Tomanová looked different at the beginning of summer. What resembled a blooming garden in June now resembles a snow-covered bed. The paintings retreat into winter sleep after the summer, inviting introspection. A series of large-format paintings was bursting with rich hues just a few months ago. Since then, it seems to have mirrored the seasons.
Tereza Tomanová's work is driven by time. She emphasizes the transformation of the image, which continues even after she finishes painting it. The creation of pigments from organic materials and the colors of anthocyanins, metal oxides, and inorganic compounds give the author a certain unpredictability, which is a welcome guest here. In her painting, she takes into account that the colors on the canvas are subject to further chemical reactions and external factors – light, humidity of the air, the absorptive properties of the canvas – and over time, they change in saturation, hue, and temperature. Thus, the artist somewhat becomes an alchemist. She defines the conditions for life and patiently observes further development. “I am rather a bystander with minor interventions, just like a person in a garden.” Somewhere, a kaleidoscope reminiscent of frost dances, while elsewhere crystals grow. The painting becomes a living organism – a cultivated environment – a garden. The properties of the cultivated environment are subject to a certain degree of control: they are suppressed (weeding the beds, trimming the bushes) or, on the contrary, encouraged (fertilizing the lawn, cultivating polyculture). And it is precisely through the concept of the garden that the author long-term explores the relationship between humans and their surrounding environment: what does a gardener give to the garden, and what does the garden give to the gardener? To what extent is the gardener a creator? How far does their mutual influence extend?
Tomanová cleverly enhances the environment in which she exhibits, aiming to engage the body and perceive through movement. At the diploma exhibition "Plané plody," visitors had to walk through sand to get closer to the paintings. They could also use garden rakes, which were complemented by their sculptural replicas created by the artist. “The act of raking has become a connection between man and the earth, a tool for disrupting the boundaries of the inner and outer space characteristic of the garden,” the author explains. This aspect of the presentation is moderated in the Šímová hall, yet remains essential. The movement is adapted to the season: winter. Visitors are encouraged to rest and introspect, as not only the garden but also the gardener gathers strength for spring.
Tereza Tomanová defended her diploma thesis at AVU in 2024 in the Painting studio of Robert Šalanda and Lukáš Machalický. During her studies, she completed internships in the Intermedia II and Painting II studios at AVU and in the Glass Studio at UMPRUM. She spent time abroad in Bulgaria and the Netherlands. At the end of last year, she moved from an apartment on a busy street to a garden cottage, and her artistic exploration of the concept of the garden is thus discovering new horizons. “At night, I heard dripping and thought to myself: spring. I go outside and find that I hear the dew falling.”
Tereza Tomanová / GARDEN: PLACE OF MEETING
Curator: Karolína Varvařovská
