Throughout her art studies, Bojana opted for the pomegranate motif that would, later on, put a mark on her works and weave its associative, symbolic, and physical properties. She has found a motif that would definitely fulfil her inquisitive interests in the art field and later on would completely correspond to what the artist problematises ideally and emotionally.
Bojana uses the oil on canvas technique because she believes that it offers a wider field for experimentation. At the same time, she expresses her artistic skills through drawings and at one point opts to make some changes in the painting process itself and shift to another approach which has been almost identical to the drawing up to that point. During the process, she realises that in a smaller and bigger format, the most important part is underpainting using the ochre tone which has the main role of finalising the background which cannot change the effect of the main motif. The painting process usually flows from the larger surface areas to smaller, finer ones or from the darker colour to brighter ones. Bojana uses the layered application process whether it is applied by brush or spatula and that way she creates the layering of the picture itself. Then, in the next phrase, she uses lazure painting which goes deeply into the pores of the painting relief and that way additionally ennobles and strengthens the motif.
The drawing is the most important aspect of Bojana’s work and throughout the drawing, she expresses her thoroughness, preciseness, and dedication. She draws using the oil pastel and manages to achieve fine velvety effects. Recently, she has introduced a new approach towards colour; from ocher-red gamma which is impregnated with magenta, purple and green, now we can notice almost fluorescent nuances that are fresh and clean, so the overall colour has an acute contemporaneity. When it comes to drawings, Bojana relies on the defined colour gamma which has an association with the tonnes that the old master artists used and represents the impermanence of old times.
Preset as a starting point is always photography since the motif itself is versatile and susceptible to quick changes. The artist is aware that the form is unable to follow the entire painting process in its original form and shape. Of course, photography is the primary inspiration and then the artist changes the form according to her impulse making it versatile which it originally is.
Cross section of the fruit is usually represented, so we can see all the juiciness, uniqueness, and heterogeneity that the inside of the pomegranate possesses. The artist leads the viewer towards the main point of the painting, by inclining and positioning its focus. She manages to achieve that by enlarging the motif, putting strong edges in the shape of a membrane, and the viewer either analyses or enjoys the surface of the painting. The background is always neutral and calm, so it wouldn’t disturb the central motif. In certain works, one of the novelties she introduces is to break down the form on purpose, therefore its compactness is being cut into, broken, and damaged. In our perception, the form remains whole and leaves the impression of wholeness It is certain that in the future there would be some more enlargements; the artist would dive into the form deeper; seeds might disappear, so she would display what is happening on the micro level.
We would understand the primary idea through the names of the paintings. The Cycle of Change and The Burst of the Moment represents the artistic exploration toward quick metamorphosis as well as time factors and their influences. The Series of Paintings: The Mask and the painting Nudity speak about a deeper narrative that is trying to reveal the human on purpose; his inner mechanisms hidden below layers of skin and the membranes in their physical or behavioural sense. The artist is trying to reveal what is behind the learning, conditional, requested, or emotional aspect. The irregular circle that describes the pomegranate fruit represents its beginning and end which can be found at the same point. If you manage to convey the life cycle and that way you can ensure the diversity of what is in between, centre, and what makes life exotic, flavourful, and hedonistic. The process of artistic creation, the thinking process is what fulfils Bojana’s artists and emotional urges which is easily visible in the consistent repetition of the motif.
We have mentioned earlier that art brings us from the artwork to the creation process. That return journey, outside of the art theory limits, would at a certain moment produce the overall doubt in the world (natural or social) as something that was given. Instead of accepting things as they are and taking them for granted, we learn to value them by perfection measures through art. As the gap between the ideal and real is getting deeper, the question is being asked: Why is the existing world as it is?
(Landscapes; John Berger on Art)
Bojana does not allow many deviations from the classical procedures and strict value system which she believes is the only right one. That way of thinking and approaching the picture is not anachronistic. Throughout capturing, detail abstraction, tiny changes, and going into the matter, the artist manages to represent contemporaneity and reality by adding subtle indications. By incorporating the fine narrative through a still life frame, the artist balances the historical and contemporary which shows the impermanence and inability to capture the present moment. In its base, The burst of the moment in its base ephemerally loads its stability through the content of the artwork.
Mira Vujović
Art historian
Translated by Milica Ergić
Bojana Bojčić was born in Belgrade in 1996. She got her Bachelor’s degree in 2019, and her Master’s degree in 2020. at the painting department of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade, in the class of Professor Branko Raković. In 2020, she enrolled in Doctoral art studies at the same faculty. She participated at several group exhibitions and seven solo shows. During her studies, she got a scholarship awarded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development. She lives and works in Belgrade.
Contact:
bojana.bojcic@gmail.com
