Sacred and Erotic - New Work by Kina Bagovska

ARC's March show features the work of Kina Bagovska.  Her new series Sacred and Erotic is a collection of twelve mixed media drawings offering a vision of the creative process of the artist as a sacred ritual.  Sacred and Erotic is a continuation of Bagovska’s previous work in the series Earth and Fire, which showed at ARC Gallery in 2011. 

As in Earth and Fire, the drawings in Sacred and Erotic depict the female forms of ancient Thracian figurines on a large scale.  Bagovska uses clean, rhythmic, minimalist lines and graceful arches in keeping with the simplicity of the ancient figures themselves.  Her use of natural materials, including rough sand and transparent silk, recalls the materials used for the early clay figurines.  The curves of the silhouettes suggest an ancient association between mountainous landscapes and the form of a woman’s body.  Each of the twelve drawings contains a biblical reference that Bagovska uses to bring a sense of holiness or sanctity to the figures.     

The drawings in Sacred and Erotic embrace the essential nature of the Neolithic figurine as a ritual object.  Bagovska sees her figures as dancers whose erotic movements to music serve as an ancient ritual dance.  Bagovska’s facility in capturing the motion and beauty of the human figure in response to music is developed in her Music series and the drawings in Sacred and Erotic are informed by her previous work.

At the heart of the series is Bagovska’s belief that her role as an artist is to initiate a creative process that will ultimately take the viewer along a spiritual journey. The large, body-shaped silhouettes that Bagovska creates are meant to be used as ritual objects connecting the present with the past in what Bagovska describes as a “never-ending spiral”.  The figures exemplify the simultaneously sacred and erotic character of ancient ritual figurines – both religious and creative.  The drawings as a whole embody what the figurines always have been, evidence of a creative process manifesting spirit into matter.  Bagovska says of her drawings, “I want to convey the message that the female figurine from the past has energetic impulses that encode the creativity of a woman, her vitality, and her vision of the world.” 

More of Bagovska’s work can be viewed on her website at www.bagovska.com 

   
Exhibition Dates for Kina Bagovska's Sacred and Erotic
March 6, 2013 through March 30, 2013

Opening Reception
March 9, 2013
4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Special Event - Friday Evening Reception
March 29, 2013
6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
ARC Gallery will now be open for a special evening reception each month in conjunction with the opening of Firecat Projects' Featured Exhibitions.