Yitka Kampak (nee Jitka Váchová) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (1996-2003), took an exchange fellowship at School of the Arts in Utrecht, the Netherlands (2000) and came to study Indonesian language and art at Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta in 2004. She has stayed in Indonesia ever since and continued her studies at Universitas Muhammadiyah (2008-9) and Universitas Negeri (2009-13) in Makassar. She held solo exhibitions in Prague and Yogyakarta and contributed to collective shows in the Czech Republic, Austria, Singapore and Indonesia. She lives and works in the capital of South Sulawesi, Makassar.

The opening of the exhibition accompannied by the artist's performance took place at the Czech Embassy (Jl. Gereja Theresia 20, Menteng, Jakarta Pusat) on Monday, 22nd April 2013.

The exhibition is open every day from 10.00 to 16.15 untill May 3rd 2013.

A word by Petra Hudcova, Curator:

Yitka moves with dedication so enthusiastic I am always convinced the fervour is contingent upon underlying drama. She pursues her passions with verve that moves many. Her incredible drive makes her unstoppable. And I secretly wonder at what point she had started inhabiting her dreams and where she made a resolve to enter her fantasies and move in.

I often get writings. Images of carnivorous plants, petals opening and closing, vibrant pigments and enticing creatures conjure up in my mind. From afar a sense of distant smell, humid air and wild melodies enter my ordinary life. Her words, too, are full of excitement and temper. Most of all they are delightful ferocious storms of colour.

Yet, there is a sweet drawback to most Odysseys. Some of us do become victims of uncertain longing for what we had abandoned.

Extricating herself out of that tangle Yitka brings about twisted bodies and swayed limbs. Brush strokes and lines merge both the Eastern European and a woman with newly acquired Asian tastes and views. The body becomes contorted and wretched, face full of alien emotion. In moments of creative abandonment, through familiar medium she can sense the connection between the current and the past.

Humans are after all troubled magicians who forget they had locked themselves inside their own tricks. They fail to remember. They get lost. And then there comes a stage when they find themselves in multiple organs and double continents. Without exaggeration they can no longer bear not knowing who they have become. They clutch at their tools and strive to find out their new outlines in any way they can.

Yitka’s work stirs. The viewer stands facing disconcerting urges and compulsions that stimulate the senses. I know that these images are real, full of genuine emotion and too honest to be met with oblivious reactions. The work deserves insight into our own personal dramas. It calls for impressive reactions that are appropriate upon seeing the results from journeys across our ecstatic as well as troubled inner landscapes.