Ida Blažičko

Ida Blažičko (1985) is a young Croatian sculptress who lives in both Zagabria (Croatia) and Hangzhou (China). Blažičko’s installations and sculptures are produced with a vast range of materials, from stiff ones (such as steel and china), to more flexible ones (such as fabric, paper, plants and musk). Blažičko’s works vary greatly in terms of dimensions, from objects measuring a few centimeters to environmental installations, but they all originate from the artist’s observation of structures inspired by biomimicry, the study of nature’s constructive strategies. Blažičko creates her works through variations and combinations of structural patterns in order to reproduce natural shapes that are also visually light.

In 2012, Ida Blažičko completed a PhD in Art in Public Space in Hangzhou (China): as a matter of fact, her work is characterized by aesthetic themes traditionally linked to Eastern imagery, such as the evanescent and fragile balance between nature and art, between volume and space, as well as between positive and negative spaces.

Deep silence the shrill of cicadas seeps into rocks

My project was inspired by the peace and silence that characterise the installation site: the moat around the ancient walls. Nature and water reminded me of an haiku by Matsuo Bashò, a Japanese poet. My work borrows its title from the same poem and I think it describes the feeling, the genius loci (the protective spirit) of the site. This game of associations is the starting point for my creation. The light and translucent structure of the sculpture recalls the transparent wings of a cicada: delicate and fragile. The surface of mirror finish steel is constantly animated by the effects of light. The vegetation is reflected in the sculpture, in its turn reflected in the water. The rough stone of the ancient walls reverberates in the modern metal. The sculpture is not simply an object, but it is a relational process in progress that incorporates nature and history. The work establishes a constant dialogue with the site. My sculpture not only surprises the spectator, but also leads him/her to see the surrounding space in a different way. To think in a different way. The rest is the poetry of the site.

Ida Blažičko