It is stated in Zdenka Kolečkova’s biography that she was born in Ústí nad Labem in the Czech Republic, where she still lives and works. This piece of information might be irrelevant for somebody else, but Zdena has found inexhaustible visual source of motives for her paintings and photographs in her home town.
I am acquainted with this town (I have been there once), but have collected more details from Zdena’s words. Today I have a very personal impression, based on several loose fragments, all I’ve seen are a few streets, look of particular houses, many factories. I add Zdena’s photos and paintings: there are details which make up her everyday vision.
The key element in gathering my private topography is the fact whether I know any of the people who live in the town in question. Personal stories of the inhabitants are additional elements which make a difference between what I have seen and what is added as a personal testimony. Towns have histories of their own and their appearance is the result of a lasting process. The history and the appearance of a town is the result of its people’s activities. Is the history and appearance of the town just a sum of the just mentioned activities? How much does the town determine the life of its inhabitants and vice versa?
Where do interruptions of their interaction appear?
Watching Zdena’s photos reveals different view from the established hierarchy of sight, based on power and attractions. The town is pictured in a series of melancholic details, sometimes fragmented until not recognisable. Documented sights are orientated towards empty streets, abandoned factory halls, graffiti on the walls or towards cold atmosphere of a hospital. These everyday details are deprived of any attraction at first sight, of a complete story. When emphasising the fragment our view is shifted towards the reality of a trifle event. A documented scene of a sunset in an empty street can change completely our everyday perception of the spot, intensifying the melancholy. A detail on a plant revise our knowledge of the object: the sight offers bizarre beauty. Sterile hospital atmosphere is noted down in a scared look of a patient, conscious of his body’s fragility.
Emptiness, abandonment, coldness: all these elements lead us to the life made up of trifles, innumerable details, towards tiny solitudes. All those details of coincidence and loneliness compose a new hierarchical order in the field of emotions. And no wonder that all the fragments are united under the title SAFE IN THEIR ALABASTER CHAMBERS. It is a line from Emily Dickinson’s poem, a poetess who could perfectly express her fears, anxieties and melancholic feelings, always oriented towards her inner self.
When you watch Zdena’s pictures and photos your attention is shifted from the screen; that flat, indifferent surface where (apparently) you can get perfectly informed and amused. Far from the usual hierarchy of vision, the offered perspective is orientated towards detail of this (or any other) town, towards coincidence and melancholy. Towards real life, towards real emotions.
Darko šimičić
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Zdena Kolečkova
1970. born in Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic
1988 – 1994. Faculty of Education, J.E. Purkyne University, Ústí nad Labem
1993 – 1996. Academy of Applied Arts, Prague
Lives and works in Ústí nad Labem.
