Klara Kristalova: Flora And Fauna

About

Klara Kristalova (b. 1967, Czechoslovakia; lives and works in Norrtälje, Sweden) creates figurative sculpture, influenced by myths and fairy tales that recall childhood fantasy and nightmares. Exuding both innocence and horror, many of her works are based on the human body, taking on hybrid forms that incorporate aspects of nature—animals, insects, flowers, and trees. The ambiguity of the origin of the figure creates an open narrative that the viewer is invited to dictate or complete. Kristalova's figures are often depicted in the midst of transformation and thus exist in the liminal space between two physical or psychological states. They illustrate binaries such as innocence and danger, perfection and deformation, joy and despair, good and evil, masculine and feminine. The age of adolescence is of particular interest to the artist as a significant period of human transformation and growth, both physically and psychologically, when innocence and freedom are lost to societal pressures and decisions are made that impact the direction of one's future. Though Kristalova is primarily a sculptor, she also creates drawings, watercolors, and collages that allow her to fully investigate her sculptural forms