We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Snezana Saraswati Petrovic. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Snezana Saraswati below.
Hi Snezana Saraswati, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
The most meaningful project for me is the most current one, a curatorial exhibition at Wonzimer Gallery, Los Angeles titled “Zimmer Frei !” that is open from 03/03 until 04/08/2023. The exhibition is fresh look into the art practice of Los Angeles-based international artists who use whimsy and humor in their art while living the “American Dream.” The works selected represent the variety of voices examining their place in a new culture, while searching for an identity and points of connectedness. The “American Dream” was built on the back of immigrants, and it is still more open here in LA, than many other countries to the idea of diversity, thus the term Zimmer Frei = Vacancy. This is a story of becoming. In addition to art works , the artists contributed with their personal items and ephemera to represent their “home memories,” to illustrate the unique melting pot specific to Los Angeles.
The title Zimmer Frei (a German term for vacancy) evokes my childhood memories of travels with my parents during summers through Italy, Yugoslavia, and Greece, where the foreign tourists were welcomed to stay at private homes or B&Bs of that time. It was a time of progress and foreigners were welcomed.
The underlining and point of connection are artists’ unorthodox approach in the use of materials and mediums. The art pieces being 2D, 3D or 4D all speak about the becoming into unmolded and uncharted being. It is a story of forming oneself within new circumstances and rules, even with traditional techniques such being oil paint artists are finding open space for experimentation. This is a story of becoming.
Zimmer Frei group exhibition meant to expand the gallery space into a “mind-space” with the on-going sounds suggestive of a gateway, both nostalgic and being here/now, to serve as a global convergence. The gallery space is submerged in a soft sound scape that cradles the sounds and music that reference the home of artists’ originations. The sound scape created by artist/gallerist Alaia Parhizi, is motion triggered by audiences’ movement in different corners of the gallery.
At the Wonzimer Gallery with Zimmer Frei the artists created a unique, welcoming, globally interconnected space that will invite viewers to sit down and contemplate our collective humanity.
BACKGROUND STORY As an immigrant from Yugoslavia, who flee the country due to the war (1992) I am searching for my idyllic version of home that I have lost. As an artist and curator I am exploring the idea of human habitats as a safe space. While working on the series of installation projects titled “Collateral Damage” focused on unintentional harm to the nature, I had an epiphany, both exhilarating and scary, that the ultimate home is our Earth, and if we do not protect it, there is nowhere to go!
I see the world as an interconnected and holistic habitat. That explains why in my studio art practice I create interactive spaces for communication and connection, such being imaginary family rooms, museums, or gardens, sometimes set into the distant future. Although my work begins within the feminist discourse of “craftsperson,” I purposefully delve into science and technology to construct a language that discusses prescient environmental issues and response to the loss we are witnessing.
My studio art practice is trans-media exploration of the borders between fine art, crafts, science, and digital reality. As a reflection on underrepresented history, personal memories, and un/intentional harm, my art is not a eulogy – it is a call to action to humanity with its ingenuity to resist and change for the better.
The words of Aldo Leopold, renowned intellectual and environmentalist (1940’) inspired both my studio art and curatorial practice: “We abuse the land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect “.
Whether creating interactive installations in my studio art practice or as a curator, I seek to create a place for interconnectedness, dialogue, and healing. After experiencing social isolation and uncertainty intensely during the Covid times, we are all in need of safe space. With the exhibition “Zimmer frei!” I believe that artists and visitors alike are having a chance to contemplate the future and reconnect to our own humanity.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I was initiative-taking and overachiever for as long as I can remember. My parents were against my interest in the arts. Since my childhood they had prepared me for the future of a doctor. Secretly from my parents I was attending prep school for the exam at the University of Fine Arts, Belgrade, Yugoslavia. At the first group exhibition my painting was stolen before the opening reception. Police found the painting and the court notice arrived at my house. That is how my parents found out that I did not intend to do anything else but art. This created huge disappointment within my family. I felt the need to prove that I can make a living by doing arts. Everything after being accepted at the prestigious art school to this day was proof of my intent and ability to live as an artist to the fullest.
The war and move to USA, did not stop me. I got MFA degree in both set design and digital arts at University of California, Irvine. My MFA thesis in theater set design process was the first in the USA done as an interactive CD_ROM format as a predecessor to the DVD format now widely spread.
Being highly motivated and with an interest in continuous learning, lead me to three full time careers, as set/costume designer, studio artist and educator. I have a diverse set of skills, experience and training that supports it. I can successfully educate students in arts( drawing, installation-art, painting) or provide services as costume/ prop/set designer, and as a studio artist with focus on interactive video installations/environments and 3D printed projects produce variety of 2D, 3D and media based work.
My interest in sustainability and environmental issues is a common thread between the three creative disciplines that I am navigating. My focus on environmental issues is solidified while in artist residency at Pomona Arts Colony (2002) working under Judy Chicago on the project Envisioning the Future.
In my studio art practice I have exhibited both nationally and internationally in Amsterdam, Los Angeles, Singapore, Tokyo, Prague, and Belgrade, at venues in Los Angeles including the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) and Stedijilk Museum in Amsterdam.
I am constantly seeking innovations in my studio art/ design practice, in both digital and technological areas. Currently, beside curating, I am working in my studio art practice with Augmented Reality, 3D printing and creating my own bioplastics. I explore the potential of zip-ties as a medium in the installation-art and sculpture with an intention to draw attention to the overuse of plastic. My recent work speaks to the warning signs of climate change: e.g. Collateral Damage – the destruction of ocean life and coral reefs, Bionic Garden- the overuse of plastic on land, and Wounds Trapped in the Fabric of Time – depicting the internal memories present in the air we breathe. These interactive site-specific environments are created with zip ties, found objects, light and shadows, video, photography, and sound. The zip-ties are symbolic of our plastic overuse, attachments, and interconnectedness. They create forms and objects reminiscent of water, waves, netting, and animal life. Illuminated by blue and white lighting, video, and AR photographic projections, the emphasis on the effect of plastics in our lives is apparent and overwhelming, yet beautiful and lyrical.
My most recent solo exhibition is Collateral Damage Recall ( Gallery 825, Los Angeles, 2022), followed by Leaving Eden ( Keystone Gallery, 2023), curated by Genie Davis (two artists solo show) and Zimmer Frei! (my curation at Wonzimer Gallery, Los Angeles, 2023).
My upcoming art projects are co-curation and installation of my work at Rankka gallery, Helsinki, Finland ( May-June 2023), participation in Contemporary Art Exhibition, curated US selection at Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan ( June 2023) and installation for TAR FEST @ Beverly Hills Park, Los Angeles( June 2023)
Beside being multi-media artist I am award-winning set and costume designer. I am the recipient of numerous awards in USA and Europe including the “Golden Arena” for Production Design in feature movie “Harms Case” and “Ovation 2010, Los Angeles” for the costume design in the Large Theater category. I was also awarded UC Regents Grant, Center for Cultural Innovation Quick Grant, and National Endowment for the Arts project grant.
In my theater design practice, I explore the potential of upcycling and recycling, such being the most recent production of King Lear, presented in Edinburgh Theatre Festival, Scotland in July/August 2022, or award-winning costume designs and 27 installations produced solely with community engagement and recycling/upcycling for the show Songs and Dances of Imaginary Lands, an avant-garde opera created by O’Lan Jones in Los Angeles. .
My third full time career is being an academic. I served as art, art history, and theater design instructor with California State University, Los Angeles (1997-2002), University of Redlands, Redlands, CA (2004-present), as Chair of the Fine Arts Department, Professional Development Coordinator, and Professor at Crafton Hills College, Yucaipa, CA (2002-2019).
I hold Professor Emerita in Arts title from Crafton Hills College.
I am most proud to see how my former students are successful in their professional creative careers or when I see how the other colleagues started using the zip ties creatively in their own art projects.
I see the world as an interconnected and holistic habitat. In the same way, my imaginary installation environments are referencing our daily reality and at the same time looking into the distant future. The current climate crisis exploration in my art is not a eulogy – it is a call to action with trust in our humanity and its ingenuity to adapt and change for the better.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
Right now I am still an observer, waiting to decide. I am certain that my Augmented Reality images would potentially fit well with the NFTs. I am just not completely sure about the safety and procedures that seem cumbersome.
I am still trying to decide if I will participate in this revolution. Decentralization is a big component that draws my interest as well as the global community. I took a couple of classes and have books to help me with the stages of the process. However, it seems that bitcoins and crypto coins, or others similar currency, are going through recession right now. A couple of my artist friends that started with NFTs, within few months had stolen identities and lost all the money that they invested/gained.
The aspect of being able to protect artists authorship in digital work is appealing. At the same time, I feel that having an Open-Source approach to the digital environments is more beneficial to humanity than imposing restrictions.
Perhaps there is a way to combine both: recognizing an originator of a visual source and adding the multiple contributors?
It feels there are still more questions than answers as related to NFTs.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
Most of the artists that I know feel that they do not have any other choice in life but to do art. I know about myself for sure, that it feels like a calling. Whether one is super successful ( in terms of sales and fame) or not, does not change the drive to be creative. If I did not have a creative career, I feel I would work in my garage and give away my art as gifts to family and friends. Only by sharing, does art become meaningful. Doing art acquires discipline and dedication. It is completely opposite to the general opinion that doing art is easy. Many of the students that I had came with this belief into the art classes, to be surprised to the expectations of continuous hard work, competition, critiques, deadlines, research and reading, all elements necessary to excel in art.
Today’s idea of purpose of art is different than in 1970’ when the art was challenging the consumerism mentality or idea of art as a commodity. Cutting support for art classes and lack of exposure to the art is causing the gap between non creatives versus creatives.
The art and creativity are about dialogue and sharing that has not just monetary but spiritual value. For example, Judy Baca proved that all the teenagers from impoverished communities that were involved in her projects in the public art paintings, grew to become leaders and have a better future.
Music, dance, and fashion are more popular forms of arts. Visual arts are also parts of it, but less publicly acknowledged.
Creatives have the same drive and different abilities as anyone doing sports. In the same way that we can support and share the sport events, we could share an exhibition experience. This would happen if we are exposed to the arts and trained in how to do it since the childhood.
We need to have art in our lives. It is undeniable. Even tattoos are proof of that need if we look at our own human tribal history until today. We are all creative in childhood and somewhere along the growing up, some of us lost this need for self-expression. It might come back at the times when we are facing difficulties or retirement. Simply, I believe that we are all born as creatives. We just need to listen to our inner voice and allow it to be heard.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.collateraldamage-saraswati.com/
- Instagram: @saraswatioblak
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/snezana.petrovic.357
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/snezana-petrovic-292a819/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/petrovicsnezana
- Other: https://www.snezanapetrovic.net/ https://vimeo.com/581665220
Image Credits
Snezana Saraswati Petrovic