Skins I live in
Skin. Its paradoxical non-existence. Nakedness. The pain that stems from the absence of skin. Identity. The inability to define oneself. When thinking about the terms “skin” and “identity”, I decided to shoot my own photographic film. Every photography creates an authentic scene. When put together, the pieces create a story of their own.
Photographs printed on fine art paper, various formats, plaster masks of author’s face installed in space
Prasna Basta, Bratislava, Slovakia, 2022
Site-specific installation, plaster masks and other materials including bandages, wax, plasticine, glass
Some masks were destroyed, some were painted on using acrylic colours/plasticine and kitchen foil
Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava, Slovakia, 2022
I rip shit like Sinead O’Connor, 2022
(performance during the opening of Skins I live in)When thinking about this performance, I decided to create a photograph depicting my face torn
to pieces, with erased eyes and lips. The photograph was 2 meters long and I knew it would be ideal for this kind of a psychological experiment. Tearing my face into pieces means literally deconstructing myself in front of people’s eyes. The fragmentation of my identity is thus happening not only in the photographs but in front of audience’s eyes. Moreover, I am the main protagonist of such an action. Of course, the visitors had no idea what was happening, just that rattling sound of tearing something... And suddenly, they figured it out and felt something happening… Catharsis?
The name of the project is an homage to Sinead O’Connor herself, fiercely tearing the pope’s photograph during a live TV performance, only to face later misunderstanding and spite. The name itself, however, is a lyrical line used by Pussy Riot in a song called “Straight Outta Vagina”.
Video performance, 2022
I rip shit like Sinead O’Connor, 6 min, 42 sec
Photography credit: Michaela Prableskova
Music credit: My remix of Exhume by Zola Jesus