MIGRATION/IN SEARCH OF ARCADIA

SOLO EXHIBITION

Arrowhead Room @ Waubonsee College,

Dickson Center, Sugar Grove, IL

Exhibition dates:  Friday, January 10 – Tuesday, February 11, 2020

LECTURE 
Monday, February 3rd, 11am

Viewing hours:

Monday – Friday: 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Saturday: 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.

 Today is the first official day of my exhibition at the Arrowhead Room at Waubonsee. I had an exciting week installing this exhibit with much help there from Cecilia Vargas, Janice Rodriguez, and Jackie Gramillo. Seeing the work removed from my studio space, in a new context, makes me experience it almost as if I were seeing it for the first time. 

 In this exhibition, titled “Migration/In Search of Arcadia” I wanted to focus on my experience of moving from one continent and country to another. After living in the United States for sixteen years, I finally became a US citizen in October 2019.
  Physically relocating from my home country, Croatia, to becoming a US citizen may seem like it took years, but it is actually a journey that will continue throughout the course of my lifetime.
Moving from one's native home and culture to another culture entails a continuous search for self-identity, as well as a sense of longing for what's understood and familiar. It also means coming to terms with a constant feeling of change, facing the unfamiliar and relearning daily.  This tension of the familiar/unfamiliar, or of being in control vs. the lack of control is at the core of my art practice. Through the process of creating I investigate the inner realms of self and the longing for what is old and familiar, yet I place it in a new context, never replicating any readily identifiable aspects of my heritage. The mark-making becomes a journal, placing this longing into a new context. This creates an alternative reality, one that speaks a universal language.