Ola Nenko

ALEKSANDRA NENKO

BIO

Born 1996, Krakow, Poland

Currently living in Porto, Portugal

She graduated from the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, Poland, from the Faculty of Sculpture. In 2018-2019 she studied at the University of Fine Arts in Porto

Founder and activist of the Bałuckiego 15 Collective in Krakow. The artist creates sculptures and scenographic installations. She works in the area of the relationship between object, space and viewer. Most often she uses the form of a symbol to establish a dialogue. In her recent projects, she has focused of the idea of home, instability and powerlessness, which in the creative process provoked her to go beyond her “safe world.” She is currently changing locations to expand her research into the abstract notion of space.

*Giving new meaning*

The work “Giving New Meaning” is an attempt to illustrate a long-term reflection on the concept of “home”, based on the analysis of one’s own experiences. These, in turn, are based on the emotions that come with overcoming my own boundaries and fears. This object is an attempt to define what a home really is to me. Especially nowadays when security in the world around us seems fragile and unstable. This topic aroused my interest a few years ago, but although I have analyzed the issue of home more than once, it has never embraced such a broad perspective.

The tent tells how much influence the upbringing and habits learned at home have on our lives. In deliberations on the idea of “home”, the threads of “place” are intertwined, “Space” and “migration” and the search for your own autonomy and meaning in the contemporary world, as well as “modernity”, which in my opinion is connected with a feeling of instability. More-over, I would like to draw attention to the deeply rooted cultural identification of the home with femininity and its very strong influence on ourselves.

“The scratched mark is my silent shout, a call to fight.

A night of transformation awaits us, the beast drawn with the shadow of destiny grows stronger.

When it’s all over

... only a burned scar will remain, and a dancing shadow will break through the metal wall “

“If the Wall should ever fall, all the fires will go out”

“If the Wall should ever fall, all the fires will go out”

the Wall should ever fall, all the fires will go out”

Referring to the mass social protests organized by organizations fighting for women’s rights, which started 2020 in Poland, I wanted to create mystical objects - animated banners.

The layered problem of ignorance of human rights led to the creation of a symbolic wall dividing society.

Dramatically vibrating figures, enchanted in a stable material, are a representation of a catastrophic vision of the world brutally burned by fire.

fires

go out | installation, metal,

living in Dreamland

A castle seen in a dream can symbolize power, it is also identified with a feeling of security. Dreamland is built on unstable foundations, but is the embodiment of a desired vision. Observing the local example of Krakow’s nativity scenes, I became interested in the speed with which certain ideas lose their value. In my exploration I was also inspired by Disneyland as one of the most common pop culture signs. The intention of the work was to point out how society is affected by increasing globalization and cultural popularization. And how the socio-cultural transformations of the 21st century, lead to a feeling of instability.

“NADMIAR” Instalation site-specific

Nadmiar has been created as a series of parties entirely and wholeheartedly devoted to certain, heavy versions of electronic music, such as: #idm, #breakcore and #noise. What touches Nadmiar deeply is: camp aesthetics, baroque style and popular culture. Nadmiar stands above any divisions. It is conceptual and yet very sensual. Nadmiar emerged as a form of sensual perception.

This third edition of Nadmiar we would like to dedicate to #LOVE. We are going to cherish and celebrate summertime passion, sensuality, kisses in the moonlight, butterflies in the stomach, gentle touch, raw instincts and last but not least reasoning mind. All of us, together, let’s give an honour to mutual respect, ‘body positive’ notion, liberation, wise and conscious sexuality and safe sex.

Intimate space

Present times have led to a reevaluation of the concept of intimate space, which has changed its parameters as a consequence of the newfound reality. Physical distance has increased, but at the same time work and/or school has invaded our intimate, domestic sphere. These safe boundaries of intimacy become exposed for instance during video calls that take place from our bedrooms, bringing about reflection on what these boundaries actually are and where they lie. The restriction of freedom with which we are currently confronted shifts human interaction to another sphere that imposes a certain pattern of behavior. All this heightens the need to create isolation within isolation, a place that is safe and removed from all connections. This consciouse self-confinement within forced confimenent acts at once as an escape of sorts and a form of freedom, given the circumstances in which we find ourselves. It can be likened to building a fort as a child, surrounding oneself with familiar objects or building a fence to separate oneself from everything else. Clothes themselves are a very personal item, though one that constantly exposes us to the view of others. They are connected with memories, but at the same time comprises a canvas for marks and traces from the inside of our body (sweat, epidermis), as well as from the outside - in form of dust, dirt or a rubbed off paint. It is also a lens through which we are viewed or judged. This intimacy of clothing is a choice that constitutes our identity.. It is from this collection of memories, which are “imprinted” onto textiles, that an intimate sphere can be delineated, a layer that makes up this second skin, in which one can take refuge.

Daphne metamorphosis

While working, I dealt with the theme of transforming an object into something completely different. Obtained second-hand leather materials became a pretext to start a new circulation, a new life. Using everyday objects that have lost their value as drawing material is my reaction to excessive consumerism. Instead of creating garbage in the creative process, I prefer to use it and give it a new symbolic character. Work cultivates the memory of life within itself. Referring I created metaphorical ones for dinners taking place in the world between man, animal and nature presentation of the world cycle. The intertwining elements represent the apocalyptic transformation into the beginning. This a land that is reborn again and again.