Vendulka Prchalová’s realizations are characterized by a high degree of experimentation and an unorthodox approach to the material, which she bends and shapes in an almost “torturous” way. There is no cruelty in the creative process and the artist’s approach, but rather the need to achieve a certain shape and articulation of one’s own feelings and thoughts, reflecting also societal themes, insecurities, anxieties, or desires. In her work, she combines glass with other materials such as metal, ink, and plaster. In the autumn of 2022, she graduated from the doctoral program at the Academy of Arts and Crafts in Prague in the Glass Studio under the supervision of Rony Plesl. In her dissertation, Mixtures/Mixtures, the author explored innovative concepts of materials and processes for the production of molds for fused sculptures. Shortly thereafter, she completed a residency at the Pilchuck Glass School, an international centre for glass education in Washington, USA. She has presented her work in a number of international exhibitions and competitions. Last year, her works were on display at the exhibition Czech Glass, Quo Vadis?!, which was part of Venice Glass Week. During the show, the artist’s works were selected for the exhibition section of The Venice Glass Week HUB Under 35, and she won the main prize of the expert jury for her presentation in this section.
[Quiet whispering]
Do you hear me? I know that we move, and often spin, in the chaotic swirls of our thoughts. We reach the boundaries of our own peculiarity and subsequently try to feel ourselves out and discover ourselves. We incessantly experiment and seek out paths – both towards and away from us.
[Deep inward breath]
I don’t understand you. Both alone and surely together we are experiencing stress, feelings of alienation and aloneness. We experience a protracted inability to savour situations from which we should feel joy. It becomes a constant cycle alternating between inflected individuality and sober outward-looking interchangeability.
[Loud screaming]
You are interrupting me, from both my daily dreaming and from reality. I am experiencing sharp convulsions of heat along with flashes of painless physical aggression. I suffer irregular spasms of shaking followed by paralysis. I no longer scrupulously seek to have all my bodily processes under control. I am making allowances for their spontaneous imprints, reflections and defects, as mirrored in feelings of uncertainty and incompleteness. Mistakes need not mean failure.
[Loud exhaling]
I’m listening to you. The dynamics of a constantly changing environment are alternated by peace and harmony. The resonance of things reflects one’s own spontaneity, topicality and sense of constant motion. Everything around me is taking a seat. I see organically emerging layers with a new clarity and depth – unfinished but alive.
curatorial text by Alena Kotyza for the exhibition I torture it till it speaks to me at the Kuzebauch Gallery in 2023