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Havlíčková

1961 / Czech Republic

Contemporaries

A graphic designer by training, she frequented the intellectual and artistic circles of Olomouc. Of Orthodox faith, she was drawn to spiritual and mystical teachings from a young age and converted to Christianity at 22.

After the birth of her two children, she stopped drawing and devoted herself to silk painting, running a small business.

The death of her husband in 1997 plunged her into a long period of wandering that ultimately led to her institutionalization.

She took refuge in a fervent faith that became her lifeline, allowing her to rediscover inner peace and freedom.

This existential crisis gave new impetus to her work through a series of drawings composed of a single verse from a prayer, which became the embodiment of her profound and mystical feelings.

Her scriptural melodies, which sometimes form works several meters long, require weeks of work. Through these mantras swirling across the white page, she finds calm and serenity. The intertwining, overlapping words form palimpsests and sometimes create kinetic effects.

Like certain visual poets, we witness a dissemination of meaning, a dislocation of language. The letters become a collection of artifacts that disregard their primary function as signifiers; they metamorphose to give life to a sensitive, delicate, and poetic work.

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