Ioana Macovei

This project is composed of three main elements which are in a constant dialogue: a column inspired  by my Trojan's Column in Rome and the Endless Column in Targu Jiu, a series of short films and a series of laser cut clay blocks. 

 

Conceptually, the piece is referring to a reoccurring theme, which to an extend, became representative of my recent experience. The questions "Stay? Leave?". It also documents my recent journey.

 

The two main artworks that served as inspiration reveal my roots, acting as a counterbalance to the feeling of alienation that generated the choices I made.

 

Technically, the piece challenges the knowledge accumulated during the past 3 years. It also represents an artistic statement- I am still an apprentice and I have yet to learn and grow.

 

I decided to deconstruct the initial concept of a Roman Column narrative onto the modernist shape.

 

The material- plaster, references back to the Roman marble- but in a workshop setting

The rust references the Modernist sculpture made out of Metal, but again in an inferior, imperfect, developing setting

 

I kept the column as the freestanding object, leaving the material and the shape reveals their meanings.

 

Instead of etched freezes printed around the faces of the sculpture, I experimented with a contemporary art practice – Film and Slow motion Animation, a medium that has only been accepted as an art practice by the Romanian academy in 2004.

 

 

Throughout my practice, I have repeatedly gone back to my childhood memories as my safe place. In this films, I use elements selected from fairytales or Romanian children's games, which gain new meanings, especially presented in a narrative sequence.

 

The laser cut clay sculptures represent reverse freezes. they illustrate maps of the cities lived in and the airports passed through