I have always understood myself as a painter.
Photography existed primarily as a tool—something functional, a reference point for what would later become a painting.
With Abundance, that relationship shifted.
For the first time, I chose to place painting and photography side by side—allowing the photographs to exist as independent works rather than preparatory material.
The title Abundance reflects more than just the visual language of the series.
It speaks to a state of creative expansion: an immersion in intense colour, in material, and in the unpredictability of process.
The works emerged through experimentation and a conscious release of control.
Pastose acrylic paint was applied onto small white boards using a piping bag, then shaped with a fork. While the paint was still fresh and luminous, I photographed it from multiple angles using my phone.
These photographs were initially intended as references for paintings.
But something unexpected happened:
they already felt complete.
In my usual process, a photograph is a starting point—something I can transform, intensify, or extend. I work into it, building atmosphere, tension, and emotional depth.
Here, however, there was almost nothing left to add.
Despite this, I spent several months translating two of the motifs into painting. Not to replicate the photographs, but to enter these colour worlds more deeply—to examine them, to test their limits, and to understand what emerges when my usual approach no longer applies.
This process revealed a fundamental difference between the two media: time.
In painting, time becomes visible.
It accumulates in layers, decisions, revisions, and resistance. The work carries traces of friction—moments of uncertainty, correction, and persistence. Some areas can be reworked; others must remain fragile to preserve the vitality of the image.
Painting becomes a dialogue—between the material, the colour, and myself.
Photography, by contrast, is an act of seeing. Or finding.
Its strength lies in this immediacy:
in the precision of seeing, and in capturing a state that cannot be recreated.
Each photograph marks a singular event—something that existed only once, and becomes visible through the act of observation.
Placing both media side by side does not aim to compare or prioritise one over the other. Yet their coexistence inevitably highlights their differences.
I was so fascinated with these photos that I was determined to exhibit them.
There were some difficulties, however, in the process of turning the digital image into a printed form. A few months ago, I had an initial print made behind acrylic glass – and was disappointed. The colours were flat, with a slight reddish tinge, and compared to the paintings, the effect was rather weak. For the exhibition, I made another attempt and had the photos, slightly edited, printed on hardboard. Now I’m satisfied with them.
Abundance will be presented as part of the group exhibition Spojeni (“Connected”) in May at Hořovice Castle in the Czech Republic with my colleagues Eva Čapková and Gotthart Kuppel.
Once the exhibition opens, a selection of the photographs will be available as a limited edition on my website.
