The Willows Are Not What They Seem is a project in which Olga Paštéková shifts painting into a new dimension. The gentle light of the lamps reveals the lines and silhouettes of birds, animals, the moon, and melancholic willows. The installation creates an intimate, introspective space for searching for a lost balance and a human dialogue with nature. The branches of shrubs appear almost as independent beings, emerging at the threshold between the visible and the invisible. The installation as a whole creates a space between inner experience and the external world, where light does not offer certainty but instead suggests a search for balance and a sensitive connection between humans, fauna, and flora. Yet it remains unclear whether nature is hiding from us, or whether we have closed ourselves off from it.
Paštéková’s artistic practice explores ecological, social, and mythological themes, focusing on the relationship between humans and animals within the broader context of the relationship between civilisation and nature. Her visual “landscapes” oscillate between image and symbol, often drawing inspiration from mythological thinking and posthumanist perspectives.
Music: Stroon (SK)
Oľga Paštéková (SK) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava and at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in the studio of Prof. Daniel Richter. She has presented her work in dozens of solo and group exhibitions in Slovakia and abroad and has taken part in several artist residencies (Berlin, Porto, Sardinia, New York). She has also been involved in a number of charitable and environmentally focused art projects. She lives and works in Bratislava and Vienna.
www.olique.sk @olga.pastekova olique@gmail.com
