Michaela Glozová↓

About the work

What should people know about your work?

My diploma work is a continuation of my previous artistic practice. The main subject that has accompanied me throughout my studies at AVU is folklore – inspiration drawn from folk traditions, rituals and myths. In my paintings I strive to depict stories that at first glance appear self-evident, but where something hidden lies behind each one. Some of the motifs in my paintings tend to be difficult to decipher, to the point of absurdity, which is the result of my intuitive interventions into the subjects of the paintings. Here, motifs represent metaphors, either with indecipherable meanings (understood only by me) or on the contrary with a meaning that is traditionally given to them. The main theme of my final work is the clash of the present with vanishing folk traditions, built around a private fertility ritual.

How do you see yourself and your work five years from now?

It’s July 2024 and I’m working in a brewery where black beer is brewed always at night and I play recordings of classical music to the yeast as it ferments. Or else I’m in a village near Brno where I have a studio while looking after the kids and my husband, as well as breeding rabbits for meat. Or I’m embroidering folk shirts and skirts because I’m one of very few embroiderers around, thus continuing with craftwork that has up to now been done by “old aunties”, but who have passed away or cannot see well enough anymore, despite their thick glasses. Another possibility is that my body lies in a cemetery and every year on All Souls’ Day someone who loved me brings me beer and buns. These are some of the variations that come to mind. But it is very complicated for me to say exactly I’ll be doing. I’d like to be able to say that five years from now I’ll still be interested in folklore… but the only certainty is that in the end everything will be completely different from how you planned it, and that you’ll end up somewhere you would never have thought of.