As an artist, I am interested in exploring the mystery that lies between what the eye sees and what lies hidden from it at a given point in time.
KATKA BEŇADIK PRAČKOVÁ
I am not looking for answers, I prefer provoking questions, as I find the experience itself to be most important.
Born in Czechoslovakia, Pračková is a self taught photographer who holds master’s degrees in Strategic Management from the Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia and in Business and Marketing from the University of Economy in Bratislava, Slovakia. Between 2008-2009, she studied Art History and Aesthetics at Kunsthochschule in Kassel, Germany.
The work of Katka Pračková primarily reflects her interest in portraiture. Over the last two decades, she also, consistently, returns to her exploration of water: she is drawn to the question of the water memory. Her art is full of layers that illustrate her thoughts about the possibilities and limits of the photographic medium. With this, symbols, allusions, and tension between the hidden and unveiled constitute the sense and intensity of meanings.
In recent years, she worked in various collaborations. She’s applied photography to create sculptures, jewelry, fashion accessories and art performances. Pračková is looking to showcase her art at open public spaces, thus creating live interaction with the audience. Through utilization of special locations such as high altitudes, deserted or underwater areas, etc., she is able to give her art freedom to be in a space to which it and those observing can resonate with.
Her works are part of the permanent collection of Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Haus der Fotografie Vienna (Austria), House of Photography Poprad (Slovakia), Galéria Mesta Prievidza (Slovakia), and private collections worldwide.
Her art has been exhibited in several solo and group exhibitions internationally and it has been published in various catalogues, magazines, and web publications.