Predstavljamo / Introducing
P eople climb the stairs, enter and stand, then their eyes widen and their mouths open. They all pull out their cameras, then put a fin- ger in the eye on the wall. They cannot be- lieve the skill of cutting such small piec- es of stone that comprise the eye. This is what the reactions of visitors look like when they visit the exhibition featuring the work of painter and mosaicist Anđel- ka Radojević (36). - It’s best when people don’t know it’s your work and you stand to the side and watch their reactions. That’s like a prize - says Anđelka, who created a mosaic that adorned the walls of one of the world’s most important libraries, the Classense in Ravenna, Italy, at the world exhibition of mosaics -the famous Biennale - as the only piece to ever be exhibited from this part of Europe. Entitled Gea, her work was presented among the works of 13 artists from around the world. Devoted to por- traits since she was eight, Anđelka went a step further with Gea. - I brought stones for Gea from Mount Goč and from quarries near Vrnjačka Banja and Kraljevo. The background is made of stone shale, the figure is made of an almost untreated form of whole stone and calci- fied wood, which is very unusual. One large stone comprises the cheekbone structure – it was necessary only to find the right shape, the right size and colour. And her hair was particularly inspiring. Interwoven in this mosaic are the walks she took around her hometown of Vrnjačka Banja, the visits she made to quar- ries and how she went hunting for vari- ous kinds of local stone.In the earring of this woman with an archetypal name she used a type of desert rose she brought from South Africa. Anđelka experiences the specific and demanding technique of the mosaic as a game, as enjoyment. When she assem- bles the squares, she says, there is no pres- sure or fear of experimentation. And in time an understanding of the wonder of stone is gained.
- As soon as you take the stone in your hand, you know how it will behave. You know which one has a grainy struc- ture, which one is saturated with veins, and what kind of pressure should be applied when cutting it. It can happen that they break unexpectedly, that a lot of time is needed to cut just one square, but that is the essence of the mosaic: it demands time, knowledge and skill – says this artist, who holds a hammer weigh- ing a kilo every day, mixes cement, plac- es reinforcements, and often bleeds from shaping stone. When she graduated at the age of 22, Anđelka utilised modern communica- tion to the max, but also the knowledge of languages that she acquired in a fami- ly where foreigners were frequent guests and where their host, her father, was a translator of English, French and German. - I focused on creating and achieving the best possible results, in the hope that someone would see it. I placed works on sites specialising in mosaics and expected something to happen in a few months. And my life changed after two or three weeks. Clients from America were the first to order her works, while today they are held in private collections in Spain, Italy, South Africa, Latin America, Europe and Serbia. Anđelka holds workshops, for both amateurs and professionals, in Shout Af- rica, USA, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Is- rael, while she also deals in designs that encompass residential buildings, busi- nesses, hotels, homes and mega-yachts. The world’s media have written about this part of her work. Anđelka sells mosaics, but in her house she has only a few. It is most im- portant, she says, to be innovative, but also – alongside using new materials and production methods – to respect strict working procedures. The artist must be aware of how stone reacts under certain conditions, and how glass must resist the elements, rain, snow and major tempera- ture shifts, because a mosaic is made to last eternally.
Treba mnogo vremena da se iseče samo jedna kokcica, ali to je suština mozaika: traži vreme, znanje i veštinu A lot of time is needed to cut just one square, but that is the essence of the mosaic: it demands time, knowledge and skill
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