miroslava večeřová

Exhibition view and details at Gallery U Betlemske Kaple in Prague, 2024

curated by Martina Mrázová

photos: Sofia Sováková

I’ll hold you with my gaze, and you in turn will hold me with yours. Slowly and curiously we regard one another, and lovingly touch each other’s inner worlds. I don’t need to wait for you to speak before I can answer you. I don’t even need to know your language. We mutually share our feelings and thoughts, and in the glint of the other’s eye we can also see our own image. In our relationship with others we come to know ourselves.

The exhibition of the work of the intermedial artist Miroslava Večeřová and the painter Denisa Štefanigová examines the possibilities of sharing and interconnection with other beings. For the artists, directness, sincerity and intimacy of eye contact become a metaphor for alternative ways of communication and recognition, which by contrast with rationalist Western discourse are not shackled to a tendency to pigeonhole the universe into norms and formulae in an attempt to govern and control everything. Via the eye as a symbol of empathy and understanding, in which physicality is combined with emotion and spirituality, the artists seek more sensitive ways of interaction and bonding with other beings, either human or non-human. While Denisa Štefanigová perceives the fluidity of being-with-otherness as a process that guides her towards an understanding and acceptance of herself, Miroslava Večeřová in her work revives the archetypal desire for communion with the elemental forces of nature and other beings.

Miroslava Večeřová turns her attention to the natural environment and our primeval ancestors, who emerged from the depths of the oceans in prehistoric times. Večeřová has been living and working for many years on the coast of the British Isles, constantly surrounded by the sea, which also distinctively frames her artistic production. In tidal zones, where marine and terrestrial ecosystems meet in an often tempestuous clash, one is directly confronted with the primary elements of wind, water and stone, as well as with a cyclical rhythm of time that transcends the life of the individual. Face to face with nature, we are invited to engage in cosmological reflections on the origin of life on Earth and ancient animistic and mythological conceptions of the driving forces of the Earth, which blur the boundaries between animate and inanimate matter, and between the physical and spiritual realm. It is precisely through physicality and materiality that Večeřová seeks a path to a long-lost connection to the primeval forces of nature, and similarly to David Abram in his book Becoming Animal the artist celebrates the “enlivening pleasure of earthly contact.”

Although Miroslava Večeřová studied photography, in recent years she has focused primarily on creating video performances, objects and drawings which provide her with greater opportunities to work with her own physicality. She uses fragments of the White Cliffs of Dover that have slowly fallen off due to the impact of erosion as material for her objects. The artist collects the fragile material and further shapes it with her own fingers, caresses it and carves her fingernails into it in a kind of loving archaic ritual. Večeřová symbolically returns the element of water into this sedimentary rock, which was formed millions of years ago through the accumulation of the shells of dead micro-organisms, by inserting into it enlarged digital photographs of the eyes of actual sea creatures. Through the means of water and limestone, which are also the fundamental building blocks of the human body, the artist provides us with the opportunity to approach these strange creatures, which could be relics of a mythical past or equally magical amulets from a distant future.

The elements of water and limestone are defining also for her other work, whether this concerns her pastel drawings within frames resembling kelp or her video performances, which can be viewed as a poetic metaphor of an interspecies kinship, as written about by Donna Haraway.

The personal levels of the approach of both Denisa Štefanigová and Miroslava Večeřová are linked not only by their emphasis on the authenticity of their creation, conceived as an expression of desire and enchantment with all forms of life, but also in their anchoring in ecofeminist discourse, which focuses on a search for interspecies solidarity and sustainable relationships, and on a more general level also in the concept of a new materialism with emphasis on the specific experience of the body.

Debut performance and exhibitio of Fallow Land, presented as part of Designblok Art House: Our Garden at the Museum of Decrorative Arts, 2024

The installation Fallow Land by artists Miroslava and Vladimira Vecerova working in collaboration with AJETO connects the world of plants and animals. Flasks in the shape of a drop or a tear are used for macerating St John´s wort, producing a crimson-colored healing oil. Folk medicine has known the plant for centuries and it has been used for treating depression and improving psychological wellbeing. St John´s wort ussualy grows on the edges of forests, roads and lakes but also in fallow land. Similarly to eels, which appear in the form of glass sculptures, the plant is considered a symbol for rejuvanation, transformation and adaptation. Fallow Land has fish winding through flasks, making their own way — much like in nature, where both show the ability to overcome virtually any obstacles set by humans.

Miroslava and Vladimira Vecerova are sisters and artists originally from Prague. Vladimíra studied at the Academy of Fina Arts while Miroslava studied at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. Their practice is often characterized by a sense for cooperation, an interest in renewable materials and nature. They produced the collaborative intalation Glacier Sunset (2021) for Entrance Gallery where they macerated plants, which is now included in the permanent collection of the Prague´s City Gallery. They continued with a performative workshop for the South London Gallery in London and Fallow Land is a sequal to these projects produced specially for Designblok in collaboration with AJETO glassworks. Vladimira lives and works in Prague while Miroslava is based in St Leonards-on-Sea in the UK.

text: Eva Slunéčková

photo: Johana Pošová

In collaboration with Vladimíra Večeřová and AJETO

2024

FOR MAAT Gallery, Trenčín, Slovakia

In collaboration with Lucie Kordačová

Form Artists Lucie Kordačová and Miroslava Večeřová will transform FOR MAAT gallery in Trenčín into a magical space, in which they will delve into ancient mythologies, rituals and astrology. The exhibition will reflect current ecofeminist approaches which call for a reconnection with nature through a collective caring for the environment. Kordačová and Večeřová focus on ancient storytelling traditions - stories that speak about the cultural significance of water and the influence that nature has on society. They explore the relationship of water to terrestrial and celestial bodies, linking water to thinking, the unconscious and memories, considering the emotional connections between humans, other life forms and species, and the earth.

The exhibition follows on from the Arid Landscapes and Ancient Waters residency at GLOAM Gallery in Sheffield, UK, which took place on Hromnice, 2nd February 2024. Here the artists focused on linking different traditions of welcoming the sun and its life-giving energy and rituals celebrating the arrival of spring. The new live performance following the residency was inspired by the Sun's journey around the stars of the constellation Aries. It includes an original rendition of a song performed by a singer which is based on the Slovak folk song Na jarný veselý čas (translated as For The Blooming Spring), which welcomes the sun and tells the story about its migration across the sky. Through this interpretation the artists also reflect on their own identity as migrants living in the UK.

In the exhibition, the artists present a new two-channel video, projected onto fabric, which is based on the live performance Arietis Sisters and the Sun, that took place in spring on the seaside at Electro Studio Project Space in St. Leonards-on-Sea, UK. In addition to this, the exhibition consists of objects and large-scale prints on textiles. In Arietis Sisters and the Sun, various ritual elements intertwine, evoking the interconnectedness of the ocean ecosystem with thousands of years of astrological tradition. Symbolic gestures and dance mimic the movement of the tides, celestial bodies, recalling the interconnectedness of human life with the cycles of the earth as well as other cosmic bodies. The performance was based on various symbols and visual associations with the constellation of Aries, with an emphasis on the equinox period when the Sun passes from the sign of Pisces into the sign of Aries.

The artists delved into the themes of rising sea levels due to the environmental emergency, exploring the coastal landscape, its flora and fauna, as well as associated myths and legends. The worship of water is almost as old as humanity itself. Our bodies are largely made of water, which is constantly transforming and returning to other bodies of water, so in many ways human bodies are barely separable from the numerous other bodies of water we interact and immerse ourselves within. By diving into the watery depths, we can find ways to reshape the understandings of our myriad worlds. 

text: Lýdia Pribišová

Credits:

Authors: Lucie Kordačová and Miroslava Večeřová

Script: Miroslava Večeřová

Singers: Charlie Austen, Kira Edwards

Performers: Hannah Collisson, Jess Mabel Jones, Santi Sorrenti

Camera and postproduction: Alice Doušová and Denes Szabo

Drawings and textile pattern: Lucie Kordačová and Miroslava Večeřová

Costume and props concept: Lucie Kordačová and Miroslava Večeřová

Costumes design and construction: Lucie Kordačová

Song and poem: Lucie Kordačová

Assistant Directors: Gabriela Zigová

Graphic design: Matúš Buranovský

Props: Lucie Kordačová, Miroslava Večeřová, Studio Hadaikum and Glynde Forge

Special thanks: Fran Painter-Fleming

Exhibition photo documentation: Jana Gombiková

Exhibition production: Dušan Chrastina

Debut at Electro Studios Project Space, presented as part of OSTARA

5.4.24

Arietis Sisters and the Sun is a new collaborative site-specific performance work devised by Lucie Kordačová and Miroslava Večeřová. Taking place in the tidal zone of Saint-Leonards-on-Sea, this performance digs into ancient mythologies and astrological customs to celebrate the Spring Equinox. Exploring contemporary ecofeminists stances, the project calls for a reconnection with nature through collective environmental stewardship. The performance is taking place during the passing of the sun through the Aries constellation. Four performers will embody the four stars within Aries: Hamal, Sheratan, Mesarthim and Bharani. Adelaide Percy will take the place of the sun, singing an original rendition of a traditional Slovakian folk song. The choreography brings these zodiacal patterns down to earth, creating a bodily thread between earth, sea and sky as celestial movements become reflected and rippled in water. Tracing transcultural lineages of folklore, the costumes draw on various cultures’ associations with Aries. Since late Babylonian times, Aries has been represented as a ram. Within this performance, ram horns have been crafted as headpieces and candles to light the performers. In Chinese culture, this constellation represents twin inspectors and people of the Marshall Islands also interpret this constellation as a porpoise (a tooth whale). The costumes weave together these references, creating otherworldly figures who dwell in intertidal zones, rejoicing in the wonder of the cosmos. Collaboratively developed between Kordačová and Večeřová, who have both left their home country of The Czech Republic, the piece also meditates on their joint experiences of migration— with the joyful return of the sun echoing the resilience and determination within diasporic lives.

Arietis Sisters and the Sun offers a visually enchanting and thought-provoking experience, fostering contemplation on our place within the cosmic dance of life.

CREDITS:

Original performance created by: Lucie Kordačová and Miroslava Večeřová.

Performers: Lize Bouchon, Hannah Collisson, Jess Mabel-Jones and Santi Sorrenti

Singing: Adelaide Percy

Costumes and Props: Created by Lucie Kordačová and Miroslava Večeřová in collaboration with Glynde Forge and Studio Hadaikum.

Photos: Thomas Fennell

Text: Fran Painter-Fleming

Graphic Design: Matus Buranovsky

OSTARA brings together a transnational cohort of artists, musicians and filmmakers, each with an interest in folklore, seasonal rhythms and geological pulses. The creatives participating in OSTARA look to alternative teachers, to budding seeds, undulating tides or mythic figures, whose teachings soften boundaries between human and non-human realms.

Participants: Anezka Abrtová, Nela Britaňáková, Maya Gurung-Russel Campbell, Lucie Kordačová, Alexi Marshall, Djuna O’Neill, Adelaide Percy, Maya Ramnarine, Carlos Maria Romero AKA Atabey, Nastja Säde Rönkkö, Studio Hadaikum, Miroslava Večeřová, Natasha Viosna Moody, Alice Walter.

solo exhibition, 2023

at Flatland Projects, Bexhill, Uk

review by Charlie Clark at Clot Magazine

photos by Jim Lineker

2023

HD video with sound

2 min 50 sec, single channel

Credits:

Film by Miroslava Vecerova

Camera: Hicham Gardaf

3D animation: Ondřej Rakusan

Colourist: Emma Johnson

Graphic design: Richard Bakes

Delving into an imagined encounter between the artist and a seal, Our View is Mineral meditates on the porous connections between human and non-human realms. Basking in tidal shifts, magnetic eyes and earthly materials, the film challenges separatist narratives between humanity and the natural world, cultivating instead an immense sense of intimacy. 

Slipping into the role of the storyteller, Večeřová’s poem ignites Our View is Mineral. Functioning like opening credits, its stanzas lyrically pull in threads of deep time, referencing slow geological shifts. Firmly rooted within a plural perspective, ‘our view is mineral’, the poem signals an inextricable bond between aquatic and terrestrial beings. Water pulses through tides, minerals and mammals, and this film solidifies these fluid relationships.

An interspecies cacophony follows the silence of Večeřová’s poem. Bestial snarls, gargles and grunts mix with heavy human breathing, these guttural sounds intermingle and overlap, as if conversing in an unknown language. Physical echoes between the artist and the seal also emerge, as body language and gestures are mirrored between the two. 

We encounter the artist draped across a chalk stone, donning a phosphorescent velvet garment. Her eyes are smeared with metallic powder, replicating the silver fibres enshrouding the seal’s 3D animated retina. Peering up at the artist amongst the waves, the seal’s eye rapidly opens and closes, revealing the artist’s figure in its vision. Večeřová’s eyes similarly flicker, locking in on the seal’s features. Caught in between the gaze of these two characters, the viewer is drawn into the magnetic dynamic unfolding within this inter-species meeting. 

The film possesses a visceral tactile quality. The artist’s fingers are laced with cobalt metallic nails. The sound of these clutching onto the contours of rocks, ticks like a clock. They scratch and clasp at the velvet fabric, grasping for something or perhaps some being to hold onto. Following the locked gaze with the seal, these nails dig into a supple cuttlefish bone, leaving imprints in its flesh. The camera hovers over these markings in the bone, emerging like a transcript of the chance encounter. 

Whilst developing this film Večeřová dipped in and out of pools of astronomy, science-fiction, eco-psychology, and anthropology, reading the work of writers such as Jo Marchant, Vilém Flusser, David Abram, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and Nastassja Martin. This fluid constellation of disciplines floods into the film, reflecting Večeřová’s hunger to develop alternative frameworks and expansive ways of thinking. Nastassja Martin’s In the Eye of the Wild (2019) served as a central anchor and catalyst for Večeřová, prompting the artist to embody understandings of the wild, using performance, memoir, and materiality to stretch the film’s character. 

Playing with sound, somatics and language, the film concocts an incredibly tender meeting between the artist and this seal. Flipping the usual role of humanity as observers of nature, the seal equally surveys the peculiar traits of the human creature before them. Both parties leave with a part of the other intact, urging viewers to replicate this kinship within their own neighbouring species. 

Fran Painter-Fleming

2021

Glacier Sunset at Entrance Gallery

photos by Johana Posova and Martin Brazina

The Healing End of Summer at the Entrance Gallery Glacier Sunset Miroslava and Vladimíra Večeřovy Review by Tereza Spinkova, Flash Art #61, Czech and Slovak Edition, 2021 There really couldn’t have been a more suitable time and place for the exhibition “Glacier Sunset” of sisters Miroslava and Vladimíra Večeřovy. In order to get to the Entrance Gallery, you have to walk through the Brevnov Monastery compound all the way to the back of the terrace garden. These couple of minutes are enough for a visitor to tune into an atmosphere that isn’t city-like at all – the greenery and the silence guide the visitor all the way to the long glass wall of the gallery, located in one wing of the former orangery. The orangery was built in the 18th century and was designed to grow delicate plants such as citrus trees. The so-called herbarium, where Benedictine monks grew medicinal herbs, was also part of the garden. It’s precisely herbs and flowers that are the main objects of the installation, as well as its active creators. In her text for the exhibition, curator Tereza Jindrová explains that for the authors, nature is above all “a framework of one’s existence, which we are aware of everyday; it’s the source of life energy from which they can draw but which also makes them cherish it in return”. For the exhibition, the two sisters have collected medicinal herbs both from the monastery gardens (such as nettle) and from their relatives and friends. According to them, meeting people with whom they could share their interest and from whose land the herbs came from was also an important part of the process, as the everyday operations were infused with collecting and gaining more knowledge about individual plants and their effects. The authors then marinated around twenty different flowers in a mix of sunflower, canola and coconut oil. Throughout the exhibition, the flowers were macerated in glass jars hanging from the ceiling, resembling “an alchemical lab oratory or giant pupas, in which a magical transformation takes place,” explained the curator. The process was completed in late September during the closing night, when the medicinal oils were given away to the visitors. The time of the exhibition itself – late summer – marks an end of the traditional herb harvest season. Being aware of the human and plant life cycle is a key element in both life and work of sisters Večeřovy. To dry, marinate, store, share, give away, apply – and to hope that next season will be just as good. And so, the simple concept of the exhibition contained many layers: questions about cosmogony and traditions intertwined with practical thoughts on the healing effects of even the most ordinary weeds which we might perceive differently and might then care for more. In return, they shall care for us.

Tereze Spinka

2021

HD video with sound

2 min 50 sec, single channel

Credits:

Film by Miroslava Vecerova

Camera: Alice Dousova

Direction: Sophie Ansell

Sound: Dan Hayhurst

Colourist: Emma Johnson

Low Tide Quest can be understood as a pilgrimage, it captures a supremely healing interaction between a figure and a particular landscape. Just under three minutes in length, this film mimics a love song, or an ode rejoicing in the strength and solace natural environments provide. Layering together evocative tableaux, its choruses abound with sublime and eery beauty.  A large boulder glistens — bearded with tendrils of seaweed. Marbling in the rocks mirrors the pigmentation of human flesh and dappled sunlight lights this rocky amphitheatre. 

Sitting somewhere in undefined territory between performance and film, the leading medium in this work would actually be the environment itself. Večeřova regularly visits this beach as a place of refuge, and this sense of intimacy with the site is incredibly palpable. Working with the environment, as opposed to manipulating its aesthetics, she uncovers particular intricacies and tonal qualities that can only be uncovered over time. Moving naked through the nooks and crevices of these stones, a dialogue emerges between the artist and this rocky fortress. 

Far from being a choreographed sequence, Večeřova is guided by this environment. Symmetries between her human form and the environment she’s submerging herself into start to multiply.  A vulva like rockpool becomes a central tableau of this tidal zone, providing an energetic force within the overlapping imagery. Locks of wayward hair trail past Večeřova’s chest, resembling the seaweed enveloping the surrounding boulders. Perched like a sphinx atop of a wieldy rock, Večeřova appears grounded and courageous, channelling the energy of her surroundings.  

Although Low Tide Quest isn’t traditionally ‘filmic’, Večeřova undoubtedly uses cinematic tools to heighten the sensorial qualities of this experience. Site-specific sounds of gusting winds and screeching seagulls are mixed with foley drones, binding these mechanical and ecological sonic fields to concoct a beguiling, otherworldly sensation. Acute crops are overlapped with wide angle shots, pulling the viewer into both finer details and the overall grandeur of this site. Mobilising these cinematic techniques, the bodily fervour of the original experience becomes viscerally translated to audiences. 

The mineral materials within Low Tide Quest also add a particular sensitivity and spiritual veil to the work. Clusters of mugwort are burnt, releasing smoke from this mother of medicinal herbs. In Czech mythology especially, this plant is associated with feminine deities and protection. The mugwort fumes within Low Tide Quest envelop the figure, creating a sense of safety in a vulnerable setting. 

Chalk talismans are also peppered throughout the film, poised on lush carpets of sea moss, nestled into the curvature of stones or balanced in the folds of Večeřova’s own form. Collecting these fallen fragments from coastal zones, each piece of chalk is laced with colourful markings. Večeřova begins by underscoring latent indents in the material and then she lets her hand roam wild over this chalky canvas. Similarly to how Večeřova’s body moves intuitively through space, these amulets also evolve instinctively, giving thanks to the site they were originally found. 

Returning to the word ‘quest’ within the title, this work is fundamentally a voyage of discovery, an experiment and perhaps an invitation to audiences to be whole-heartedly present within a habitat. Resisting solid definitions between performance or film, Low Tide Quest serves more as a hybrid offering, celebrating the possibilities of elemental therapy and a return to the body. Ethereal, strange and magnetic, it pulls viewers into its orbit. 

Fran Painter-Fleming

RIVER, 2014

Video performance, 00:58

‘Miroslava engineers an atmospheric disturbance, rupturing the surface of the image of nature.’

(Rachel Pimm, Autoitalia)

2021

Top: Exhibition views and details at Berlinskej Model, Prague

Photography by Frantisek Svatos

Last: Still image from HD video, 2 minues 45 seconds

2021

soft pastels on hand-carved sedimentary rock, water based print on acrylic glass, upcycled velvet and metal

Exhibition details at Palace Spinning On Duck Feet, Every Woman Biennial, Copeland Park & Bussey Buildings, London

2019

Sculpture, film, sound, drawing and performance.  

Poetry written in collaboration with Maya Campbell.

Costume in collaboration with Lucie Kordacova

The cuttlefish is a beautiful creature, highly intelligent, possessing remarkable eyes, a supple muscular body, a grace of movement and an unparalleled feeling for colour and its use. The respiratory pigment of its blood, haemocyanin, contains, as its central atom, copper. The alchemists intuitively perceived copper as possessing the attributes of Aphrodite, the goddess of feminine beauty and love. Thus there exists yet another Sepia, and she is magnificent. She is the dancer, the athlete, and the aerobic instructress, lithe, well muscled, supple, poised, graceful and dynamic. She is the actress, the artist and the musician; she is the college graduate, the executive and the barrister; she is free, independent and assured, a denizen of the modern world, her male and female energies in wonderful balance. She is luminescent, irresistible, her beauty and intelligence set off by unforgettable eyes. Tonight she may dance with wild abandon and make passionate love, tomorrow she walks the passages of power, elegant in her pencil-slim skirt and high heels and holding her leather brief case.

Top: Exhibition view at Hastings Museum, documentation photograph by Gesine Garz

Bottom: Exhibition views and details at SHOW HOME, London

ISOTONIC SONG, Fotograf Gallery, Prague 2019

wall paintings, natural salt, miniature acrylic glass photographs, acrylic paintings, coloured fabric fringes, crystallized salt, steel pendulum, HD video single channel video projection with sound and glass shards

In collaboration with Pavel Prikasky. 

Top: Exhibition views and details at Fotograf Gallery, Prague

Last: Digital video with sound, 8:00

Plusmínusnula Gallery, 2018

Film with sound, photograph, sculpture and performance

Spoken word in collaboration with Maya Campbell

Voice over by Elvin

Top: Exhibition view at Plusmínusnula Gallery, Zilina, Slovakia

Photo: Peter Snadik

Last: Digital video with sound, 4:48

2018

Multi-faceted installation with sound in collaboration with Pavel Prikasky

Top: Exhibition view at GHMP, Prague

Photo: Tomas Soucek

Last: Digital video with sound, 4:40

2016

Digital video with sound

In collaboration with Pavel Prikasky

Top: Exhibition view at Drdova Gallery, Prague

Photo: Iveta Schovancova

Last: Digital video with sound, 7:14

POLYSEMY, 2018

Multi-faceted installation in collaboration with Pavel Prikasky, commissioned by the Czech Centre London.

Digital Photograph, HD video with sound, bench, wall sculpure, acrylic painting and digital print

Top: Graphic image for promotion by Miroslava Vecerova and Jan Broz.

Exhibition views and details at Czech Centre London

Last: Digital video with sound, 7:14

2019

Clay, soy wax, sea moss, natural chalk, cling film

Exhibition detail at OS17, Szczeczin, Poland

How To Talk Between Echoes. A Dialogue with ’Porous Whispers’ at Obrońców Stalingradu 17 by Mia Harrison

2019

Isotonic Songs is an art book made by long-term cooperating artists Miroslava Večeřová and Pavel Příkaský.

Published by Fotograf 07 z.s. Its publication was financially supported by the State Fund of Culture of the Czech Republic.

Editor: Mariana Serannová

Texts: Angelica Bollettinari, Christina Gigliotti, Mia Imani Harrison, Michal Novotný, Mariana Serranová, Borbala Soos

Graphic design: Jan Brož

104 pages

Print run: 300

ISBN: 978–80–906924–1–1

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