Oskar Hořánek↓

About the work

From chimney to chimney, there is no place like home

My diploma work, entitled From Chimney to Chimney, There Is No Place Like Home, deals with the existential issue of finding my place in the world in confrontation with what fulfills me. In terms of content, I do not find it important to communicate my story, but pass the emotional experience on viewers through the created situation in which they find themselves.

In this series of paintings, viewers find themselves in front of a monumental depiction of an object in an unidentified setting, which is real enough to deduce that it has a function. I only very partially base the works on the forms of various fireplaces, buildings, and objects, and viewers are thus removed from the context they understand, and they have no choice but to trust their instincts. The series was mainly inspired by my long-term work in my father’s company, which specializes in custom-made fireplaces and the production and installation of various design or construction elements for interiors and exteriors. I draw visually from these architectural projects in which I had participated, and in relation to the content, from what these projects represented for me.

This brings me back to the beginning, to seeking my place in the world through what fulfills me. And to the effort to prevent my irresoluteness from locking me up in a system that merely consumes the energy needed to realize one’s own existence based on one’s decisions. These decisions are often very difficult, because they are, among other things, very often unclear and unspecific. I try to relate to viewers through a depicted situation, which is purely instinctive but at the same time immersive. And on that basis, to more consciously convey the experience of insecurity that is part of our daily lives. Although my diploma focuses on paintings of monumental format, their installation is intended for smaller spaces and lays emphasis on surrounding viewers and on the intimate atmosphere of the situation.