The Omnia mea exhibition presents the independent work of the sculptor Alena Matějka (b. 1966, Jindřichův Hradec). Matějka processes the essence of the sculpture in an innovative way, thinks in a new way about its effect, about how it communicates with the inner and outer space. Her transition from classical sculpture to non-traditional artistic methods is rather smooth, almost natural. This corresponds to the open-mindedness with which she approaches various materials – glass is the main one, but it is freely combined with many other sculptural materials, such as stone, alabaster, marble, as well as non-sculptural ones (photographs, fabrics, ice, water, found objects, etc.). As Matějka herself admits, “I work with glass as with natural matter, which lacks the perfection and exactness of plastic; its beauty is not without visible defects. I process my sculptures so that they are pleasant to the touch. Not touching them is like looking at a cake and not being allowed to eat it. She works on various scales; she has the feeling for both small sculptural works and monumental implementations.

Alena Matějka graduated from the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, Vladimír Kopecký’s studio. His influence on her work was reflected in the rejection of dogmas in the sense of what is acceptable and what is not – in her work, there is both respect for craftsmanship and tradition and, at the same time, a kind of joyful effervescence and openness to various options.

Matějka’s work combine inspiration from nature, myths, and in general the stories of human civilization; somehow inevitably, it includes everyday life, family affairs, friends and the small events that simply happen. The exhibition thus presents both sculptures inspired by archaic or mythical morphology, installations featuring taxidermy animals in combination with glass objects, in which the author mocks certain established values, as well as works in which she returns to family memories.

Alena Matějka lives partly in the Czech Republic and partly in Sweden. The Omnia mea exhibition presents the first comprehensive account of her work, which is undoubtedly one of the most original manifestations of contemporary visual art.

Museum Portheimka