Jana Svobodová↓

About the work

Tale of a Tear

Tale of a Tear has been conceived as an artistic research project involving subjective insight and an analytical approach. The artist’s objective was to find a universally familiar phenomenon that would be easily understood by the general public and by which one can make oneself understood. At the outset, she thus asked herself, “How to catch a drop of water?” Over the course of her exploration of the subject of the tear, she imprinted its emotion, its origin into a drop of water – thus making it a tear. Of the wide range of human emotions, few phenomena are as widely understood, used, and universal as tears, which transcend language barriers and differences between cultures and individuals. In the process of her artistic exploration, Svobodová focused on the role tears play in communication and sharing. Beyond simply depicting tears, she imbued them with a tangible presence and transformed them into objects of expression and contemplation. How can we understand and get at the essence of the source of our tears, meaning our emotions? This is the fundamental question that Tale of a Tear answers.

In this piece, the artist builds on her previous exploration of the inner landscapes that give rise to intimate artistic statements, which she usually processes through the long-term study of various materials. Since the beginning of her studies, her work has straddled the intermedial boundaries between painting, installation, and sculpture – media characterized by a mutual tension but that also resonate and communicate with each other. Svobodová encourages us to view various themes or issues from new angles and perspectives, through her lens. An eagerness to know the essence of things and materials forms an inherent part of her works, which are based on personal stories, everyday moments, or even scientific investigation – conveyed to us in her distinctive, sensitive manner.