Based on black and white and sepia photographs, both parade portraits and random snapshots from my family archive, which tend to pile up at the very bottom of the photo box, I have painted people with whom I am related by kinship ties, whose life stories I know, and who have been witnesses of 20th century. These portraits are exhibited on the backs of four larger unpainted canvases, between the stretcher bars, thus adding meaning to the concept of "background". All these people who come from the beginning of the 20th century are to some extent also my background, as a personality in a broader sense.
Looking at black and white photographs and old letters, I am trying to imagine what my relatives were thinking and feeling at the time. The stories I heard from my grandparents and the memories I inherited help me in part. But partly it is also my imagination, attempts to empathize, project my feelings.
An indirectly present image in my works is the war, which in the middle of the 20th century, just like now, radically changed life, separated families, took people to different sides, and what was happening affected both those involved and future generations.
Memories are fleeting, and as they are handed down from generation to generation, they become more and more blurred and vague. I would like to slow down this inevitable process, stop it for a moment, and feel the connection that unites me with my ancestors. By painting portraits of my relatives, I would like to give this cycle a generalisation that describes an era that has greatly influenced our current life.

Added Sep 14, 2024