19. 9. – 17. 10. 2024
Open Studio: 8. 10. 2024
Residency outcome: 17. 10. 2024
Curator and author of the text: Pavel Ticho(ň)
Thanks to my daughters, I had the honor to get to know Magdaléna Pacáková 12 years ago as a rover of the Argyroneta Girl Scout Troop in Prague 7 (later as its leader). We used to go to the Bohemian Forest outside the town of Vimperk to the wild where the troop organized a camp in complete symbiosis with the local environment. Sustainability, consideration, and independence were not just empty words there but were strengthened by daily activities. A kind of growing into the tissue of natural wisdom remained firmly rooted in Pacáková’s subsequent visual direction. At that time, there was no indication that we would ever meet again down the space-time continuum under Pragovka Gallery banner in the roles of a mentor and a resident.
In the meantime, she attended the Czech Technical University (CTU) at the Faculty of Architecture in Prague for a brief time and then got her bachelor’s degree at the Faculty of Science of Charles University in Prague where she continues her master’s studies. At the same time, she completed her bachelor’s studies at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design (UMPRUM) in Prague at the Sculpture Studio (Fine Arts I) of Dominik Lang and is currently a master’s student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague at the Painting Studio I of Robert Šalanda.
In Pragovka Gallery (Factory), she presents works based on her fascination with alien plants and fungi which she explores in the context of the Czech environment. As part of her month-long residency, she created a closed series entitled “Plant, Where Are You Growing?” which is the culmination of her exploration of biological themes related to growth, defense strategies, and life cycles of plants and fungi.
Her work focuses on the unfinished growth of plants which possess no fixed form and whose life is a constant search for light. Her aim is to visualize this cycle through paintings and installations which reflect not only biological but also philosophical questions about growth and change. The series of paintings included in the exhibition is a personal imagination of the process of growth rather than a literal representation of actual plant structures.
The installation of braided tubules made of willow wicker, which follows her previous work “Worms”, works as a metaphor for unfinished growth. The basketry technique here symbolizes endless addition and transformation, echoing the principles of microtubules, the key structures for cell division and growth. The final forms of the installation are reminiscent of both the macroscopic and microscopic aspects of plant life, which are constantly evolving.
In the context of her graduate bachelor’s thesis at the Department of Botany at the Faculty of Science, the exhibition “Plant, Where Are You Growing?” becomes a kind of synthesis of artistic and scientific approaches. Pacáková explores the connection between human growth and plant production, creating a space for reflection on our place in the natural world.
Her residency is not only a celebration of plant life, but also an invitation to reflect on the dynamics of growth and change, both within nature and in our own lives, and the magic of biological strategies.
