DAGMAR BOCAKOVA
“Between Lines” is a strictly monochromatic project about flow of emotions, thought and ideas constantly present as a background data in our brain. As a passionate reader, I am quick in weaving sentences from books into my everyday thoughts,
DAGMAR BOCAKOVA
but between lines is not only about literature, but also about racing thoughts in the middle of the night, feeling of loneliness, love for music, longing for places that probably don’t even exist and pragmatic things like muscle pain and insomnia
In “Organseries” I express my life-long fascination by biological structures, physiology and anatomy. What is hidden inside us can be perceived as creepy and pretty in the same time in both literally sense and as an allegory. I use innocent looking children-like illustration as a tool of metaphorical dissection of human bodies and minds to expose the contradiction between logical need to appreciate a well-functioning machine of our body, and an irrational disgust rooted in stereotypes, lingering deep in our minds. As a symbol, livers, brains, hearts etc. represent also our hidden thoughts, behavioral schemes, and whole spectrum of emotions. Things, that are like organs, directing our lives from beneath the surface invisible, but functioning all the time no matter how much attention we give them.
“Lullabies with Literature” is my ongoing project inspired by literary quotes. When I read, I do savor a beauty of sentences and as a person with very vivid visual imagination I can see my way of illustrating these words.
In the “Habitat series”, I want to point out how places and animals are inseparably bounded. Heroes of this series are living in forests, fields, rivers, and oceans or share space with us in urban areas. Pictures of the habitat series were created to appreciate the fragile equilibrium in nature, and to celebrate beauty, complexity, power, and resilience of nature.
As a visual artist and illustrator, I take my inspiration from science and literature, but also question social stereotypes and sometimes talk about my personal life and emotions. Collecting ideas along my career and life path, I find inspiration in human and animal physiology as well as in botany and environmental sciences and my beloved literature and pour all these inputs into series of small, but very detailed drawings.
