Jitka Mikulicová
Jsou umělci, kteří tvoří s lehkostí a rychlostí, při níž nová díla doslova chrlí. Jitka Mikulicová (nar. 1980) k nim ale nepatří. Sama charakterizuje svůj postup práce jako náročný na čas – a to ať se jedná o malby nebo o promýšlení nemalířských projektů, k nimž se dlouho odhodlává. Charakteristické pak je, že její díla až na výjimky netvoří žádné větší série nebo cykly, každé je svým způsobem solitérní. Pro malby je typická mnohovrstevnatost, kdy je jeden nátěr překryt dalším a přitom jej vlastně spoluutváří. Mnoho obrazů pak může vyvolávat dojem nedokončenosti, při bližším pozorování jsou ale spíš svědectvím o šťastné intuici umělkyně, která „ví, kdy skončit“.
Zřejmě nejčastějším žánrem, kterému se Mikulicová věnuje je portrét. Běžně jako předlohu používá fotografie – ať už z rodinných alb, nebo nalezené či zakoupené na bleším trhu, přičemž podstatný je pro ni zejména „oční kontakt“ s portrétovaným. Nejednou jsou na těchto podobenkách rozpoznatelné rysy dob minulých, které svědčí o vlivu retro estetiky, jenž vyvolává pocit nostalgie (Schody, 2007; U zdi, 2008). Ohlížení se do minulosti je koneckonců pro Mikulicovou významným tvůrčím impulzem – ať už jde o vzpomínku na portrét chlapce na hřbitově, se kterým se v dětství identifikovala (Mireček, 2007), nebo třeba o motiv figurek-černochů, které ji fascinovaly ještě v době, kdy do Sametové revoluce žádného černocha neviděla osobně (Černoušek Bubu, 2008). Určitou dětskou naivitu v sobě nese i její formálně inspirační zdroj – vytváření lepených koláží z trhaných papírů, kterým trávila čas jako malá, přetavuje nyní jako umělkyně, jež prošla školením u Martina Mainera, Neo Raucha a nakonec Jiřího Davida, do sofistikované malby rozložené do množství barevných fazet. Čerpá tak mimo jiné z dědictví kubismu, s nímž ji spojuje i střídmá barevná paleta. Kromě znalosti dnes už klasického odkazu moderního umění se ovšem inspiruje také v oblasti lidového umění a folkloru, což je nejvýrazněji patrné na Dřevěných obrazech z roku 2005. I zde vycházela z osobní zkušenosti, resp. ze znalosti řezbářského koníčku svého otce. Dá se tedy říci, že Mikulicová každé svoje dílo skutečně intenzivně prožívá a tvorba je jakýmsi vyjádřením a rozšířením její vlastní osobní historie.
- I guess the decision to make art00:00:11.699
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- was a bit harder for me,00:00:15.939
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- because there were certain rules00:00:20.194
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- set up in the village, but also in family,00:00:24.658
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- that it didn't fit at all in what is expected from you.00:00:29.118
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- I was even being dissuaded, but not by the parents.00:01:04.263
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- They - and above all mother - were those who supported me00:01:14.501
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- so that I could do what I was doing,00:01:18.867
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- because she had asked me whether I want to do for my whole life00:01:23.235
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- the same thing she does, because I was supposed to be some accountant00:01:27.773
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- - it would be utterly terrible.00:01:32.138
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- I have tried all of them: UMPRUM, FaVU and AVU,00:01:47.819
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- and, in the end, FaVU it was. So I have moved to Brno.00:01:52.294
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- But there was always this need...00:01:56.584
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- in short, from the very start I knew I didn't want to stay there,00:02:00.983
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- because I find Brno in some way... it's very weird an environment.00:02:07.679
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- So I think that in some way I had profited from it.00:02:13.396
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- Martin Mainer led us to painting, because he was a genuine painter,00:02:17.609
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- but at the same time we have widely cooperated00:02:21.887
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- with studio of Václav Stratil, and that's what I like about FaVU00:02:26.045
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- - that the people there get along; the studios weren't self-contained,00:02:30.399
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- which was, later, when I transferred to UMPRUM,00:02:34.847
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- the way it functioned there was that every studio closed its doors00:02:39.242
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- with whatever taking place inside.00:02:43.658
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- I was actually making a transfer,00:02:52.671
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- but I didn't know which studio should I apply for,00:02:57.003
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- because originally, even before going to Brno,00:03:01.227
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- when I was leaving high school, I wanted to apply for the studio00:03:05.563
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- of Vladimír Skrepl (at AVU). I went there for a consultation00:03:09.724
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- and I got so depressed,00:03:14.072
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- that I went to a park afterwards00:03:18.556
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- and wanted to cry a lot...00:03:22.938
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- I was saying to myself that it doesn't make any sense00:03:27.254
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- to apply for his studio, that he wouldn't accept me.00:03:31.699
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- In the studio of Jirka David, there was one thing essential for me,00:03:35.990
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- that he was asking us...00:03:40.171
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- he certainly is a good manipulator, too, but at the same time he provokes00:03:44.418
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- a reaction in you, or arouses questions,00:03:48.766
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- so he wanted me to say what do I think00:03:53.965
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- and that had led sometimes to such a confrontation,00:03:58.299
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- which was as if... there were so many confrontations00:04:03.167
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- even among students themselves, which were rather more dramatic,00:04:07.611
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- but I think that's what was interesting about it.00:04:13.987
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- I was still at FaVU at the time I was doing the wooden images00:04:18.244
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- and that was my final work there. I was looking for a form...00:04:22.708
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- it was interesting for me, but on the other side,00:04:26.997
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- I felt limited by the collage form that I had been working with,00:04:31.265
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- so I wanted to work with it also in painting00:04:35.629
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- and I have made paintings00:04:42.708
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- entitled Christmas Collection.00:04:46.954
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- I went for the family probably because I had a feeling00:05:05.837
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- I know the stories and I am more capable00:05:11.112
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- to convey them through painting.00:05:15.599
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- So I have painted my aunt00:05:20.400
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- the way she is maybe now or was at the time of the painting00:05:24.830
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- and in background there is a portrait of her husband00:05:28.961
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- who appears as if a ghost.00:05:33.194
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- This was in a way my final painting00:05:37.540
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- before taking a pause for a year, or, precisely, taking a pause in painting,00:05:41.903
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- because for some time I have been preparing00:05:46.147
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- to create the project00:05:50.581
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- of black figures00:05:54.738
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- and that's a project00:05:59.075
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- that have been very demanding production-wise.00:06:03.521
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- I have given the project a working title Picaninny Bubu00:06:30.666
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- coming from the infamous song00:06:35.100
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- which goes like... "Picanny Bubu has a black mug..."00:06:39.633
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- we have been singing it as kids without a slight comprehension of the context.00:06:43.984
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- Depending on what I needed to do, I have made a casting of the person00:06:48.122
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- and worked on the model afterwards, but I had help, too, of course,00:06:52.590
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- with all of that. So I modeled life-size figures00:06:56.680
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- after the real persons00:07:00.882
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- and I had given them their names.00:07:05.200
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- It was hanger Sára, ashtray Nelly,00:07:10.908
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- salt shaker Pictorino00:07:15.201
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- and fish-bait Gaudí.00:07:21.435
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- But the ladies at the Students Service Center00:07:25.200
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- weren't really fond of me, because I made the transfer there,00:07:29.555
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- and it was already... I was supposed to be glad00:07:33.955
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- for being at UMPRUM until my death, so I wasn't given Berlin,00:07:38.135
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- because so many people wanted to go there,00:07:42.378
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- and it was only them deciding it, so I went for an option00:07:46.707
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- to go to Leipzig; I knew Neo Rauch was teaching there,00:07:50.960
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- at that time nobody knew him here.00:07:55.274
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- It was very unattractive environment to go to for an internship.00:07:59.581
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- I have sent there my portfolio00:08:03.903
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- and told them I want to go to Neo Rauch.00:08:08.359
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- Or I have been applying for postgraduate studies in Belgium00:08:12.711
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- and later, when I wasn't expecting it anymore,00:08:17.059
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- I received an acceptation letter, so I have moved there.00:08:21.471
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- It was probably the most important experience for me00:08:25.772
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- compared to all other cases of my staying abroad.00:08:30.067
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- So we are in Pavlovice, at cemetery...00:08:35.476
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- every time I was strolling between the graves there00:08:43.350
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- I used to see a tombstone at the grave of a young boy00:08:47.757
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- with had had the same surname as me00:08:52.016
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- and who had died as old as I was at that time.00:08:56.332
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- I was probably identifying with him in a way,00:09:00.778
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- because I used to ask about him. To me, it was pretty weird00:09:05.108
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- to see something like that in childhood.00:09:09.623
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- It was diamond-engraved portrait of the young boy00:09:14.039
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- and on the basis of this memory I decided to make him a big portrait,00:09:18.349
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- bigger than life, almost two meters tall.00:09:22.673
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- In the next step00:09:28.792
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- I made a series of stone images00:09:33.049
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- and I started with a self-portrait.00:09:40.649
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- The step to create one's own portrait00:09:44.915
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- that is to be set in stone, scraped in the same fashion00:09:49.259
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- with a diamond... So I have done a series00:09:53.707
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- of five upbeat portraits.00:09:57.918
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- One of the first - and recently even the most important - images00:10:22.258
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- is a painting entitled Fox.00:10:26.505
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- I named it like this because it had stemmed00:10:30.663
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- from a picture of an anonymous man00:10:35.010
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- - it was an old, weird photograph -,00:10:39.496
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- who had, like, animal eyes. I tried to make his portrait00:10:43.701
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- but it was no good.00:10:48.046
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- I wanted to give expression to his character.00:10:52.462
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- I approached the painting with an aggression of sorts,00:10:58.373
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- and he ended up being portrayed00:11:02.755
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- as a human-animal. And I believe there was also an influence00:11:07.090
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- of my previous work with sculptures.00:11:11.512
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- In my current work, I think I am...00:11:17.639
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- well, judging it like this,00:11:21.928
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- I guess my things got dispersed in a way,00:11:26.147
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- they are drawing apart from a concrete form00:11:30.578
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- and I'll see how...00:11:36.398
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- I guess there is a sort of a need to relax a bit,00:11:40.641
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- or to play around, or to experiment again somehow.00:11:44.881
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- And I put myself more in it.00:11:54.275
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- For example I start with the same method00:11:58.483
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- of assembling a portrait in frames,00:12:02.719
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- but then I transform it, and it sometimes happens00:12:07.028
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- that I completely screw it up, but it's actually interesting for me,00:12:11.390
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- that I approach it00:12:15.741
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- knowing the risk00:12:19.997
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- of scraping a 14 days' worth of work,00:12:24.351
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- but in some way it interests me because something00:12:28.805
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- does take place there, or it doesn't, and then I work00:12:32.882
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- with it some more. But again, it's kind of energy for me,00:12:37.187
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- more of an interaction.00:12:41.402