The Lady and the Unicorn

The Face motif appears in the Old Masters series, which has been in development since the 90s (1993-2023), when as students, we would go to the Sternberg Palace to paint copies of Old Masters from the originals. The first painting was created based on El Greco's The Prayer of Saint Dominic (1993-1995).

After three months of intensive painting, when the piece was nearly finished, someone stole it directly from the National Gallery's exhibition, along with my paints. After a long period of frustration, I eventually decided to paint the work again and continue with this series for another 30 years.

I choose iconic paintings by Da Vinci, Velázquez, Rembrandt, Hals, Caravaggio, Vermeer, as well as Bacon or Warhol and other significant creators from the Renaissance and Baroque periods up to the 20th century. I strive to paint these works in a traditional manner and subsequently deconstruct them using various painterly techniques, such as dissolving, tearing, washing out, etc. The narrative motif is thus transformed into an abstract structure.

In the Old Masters series, I am interested in the theme of the face and time. Examining and interweaving the past and the present, permanence and transience. Reinterpreting portraits opens a dialogue between the Old Masters, contemporary painting, and memory.

For a long time, however, I have been interested in what the viewer experiences in their mind and eye when standing before a painting. Whether a painting can evoke emotions and whether it is possible to transform not only the viewer and the painting but the space itself.