STATEMENT 

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I was born in Cheb, a small border town in the former Czechoslovakia, just seven kilometers from Germany. When the Berlin Wall fell, I was only five years old; therefore, I am not a direct witness of communism or the dividing Iron Curtain. However, time does not divide life into exact blocks—there is no clear “before and after.” Some events transcend temporal boundaries and become imprinted in the human subconscious, in the way people behave, feel, or raise the next generation.

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My earliest memories of my place of origin are linked to a feeling of heaviness, and even today the landscape, with its border forests, evokes a certain unease in me. This is one of the reasons why I left the Czech Republic and condemned myself to a kind of nomadic, voluntary exile. In unfamiliar territories, while moving between cultures, things happen that disrupt one’s current way of thinking and give rise to new creative forms.

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Paradoxically, this distance ultimately brought me closer to themes connected to my own country; I tried to free myself from a sense of existential anguish, yet it continues to reappear through my artistic activity.

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The beginnings of my work were closely tied to research on the communist era in Central Europe, particularly border issues and methods of surveillance and repression. Over time, my interest, research, and creative practice expanded toward broader topics such as borders, migration, and the complex events that drive current migratory movements.

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My work arises from a sincere interest in contemporary realities that force people to leave their homes in search of the safety and peace that every human being deserves. Through drawing, I reflect on various phenomena I consider important; I develop initial ideas and transform them into different artistic forms. From the results of my research, I build a personal archive.

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