Living images by Tereza Tomanová. In the exhibition Vaulting, the artist collaborates with nature itself. Pigments derived from cabbage, mordants, and marigold crystallize in works that reveal what usually remains hidden from view.

Young Czech painter Tereza Tomanová (b. 1991) presents in her solo exhibition Vaulting, created for the spaces of Karpuchina Gallery, a new series of paintings in which she figuratively and literally moves from the garden to the cellar. This is not merely a shift on a thematic or spatial level. It could be said that it directly relates to the cycle of nature and processes associated with growth, maturation, and preservation.

Through her unique technique of working with hand-prepared natural pigments, the artist allows partially controlled crystal growth to emerge, spreading through both abstract and figurative motifs.

The exhibition offers a complex view of natural processes captured in a labyrinth of cellar corridors and niches, where beneath layers of violet light and organic structures memories of the passing summer are preserved.

“I am fascinated by the moment when I stop having control over the creative process and the crystals on the canvas begin to grow on their own. It is a way for me to bring into the painting the natural processes by which I am surrounded,” says Tereza Tomanová.

The exhibition Vaulting thematizes transformation - an elusive yet omnipresent process to which Tomanová gives concrete form. In this respect, the artist refers to the feeling brought to her by the experience of living in a garden house - a place in close contact with both nature and the city. Her metaphorical painting can, however, just as well be related to a broader need to search for a safe place, a “mental cellar,” where beneath a hard crust of frost what is essential remains preserved.

“When we descend, we are embraced by a familiar earthy scent. We are where memories of summer are stored. And if they are well preserved, they can slightly illuminate even the January darkness,” adds the exhibition’s curator, Michal Jalůvka, reflecting on the atmosphere of the exhibition.

The exhibition will open with a vernissage on January 22 at Karpuchina Gallery. It offers viewers a space where, beneath layers of frost and cold, memories of the harvest can be found and used to warm the rest of winter.