Collective Heart
Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in Harlem New York from February to June, 2019.
published on TagBoat http://www.tagboat.com/select/n_artist9.php
Kyoko: Did you create all lace by yourself?
Eva: No, none of the laces were created by me. My interest was and still is or work with an already existing material, not to produce a new one as we already have, so many surrounding us, but to recycle an interesting one. To me lace was interesting because it is hand work which is disappearing and is always associated with feminine energy and the elderly generation. I wanted to place it into a new context to enable it to reclaim the fascination of people since it really is for me a truly fascinating representation of not just hand work but also reinterpretation of the pattern of life. Lace appears both organic and mathematical and, in this way, reflects life on all levels, all the way from the inner workings of the cell of the micro level to that of the outer space cosmos on the macro level of stellar organisms. At the same time, laces are actual time capsules and data banks of emotions since all the separate emotions of the separate individual (mostly women) creating them transposed a lot of their emotions into them through the endless hours needed to create them. After I collect all the laces together, I work to place them in a particular way to express a particular symbol or pattern, bringing about a particular composition and feeling of balance or tension. I then sow together these laces into a so called collective skin in the form of an assemblage, of layering to achieve a particular feeling of tension versus balance between all the separate laces existing side by side as separate entities but at the same time also as a whole system in relation with the whole composition of all the laces making up that one particular work.
Kyoko: The work is feminine. Do you describe you as a feminist artist?
Eva: Yes, most people see my work as feminine. I think this is partially logical because it consists mostly of a material that only woman work in, lace. But I would say that in the feelings it produces, it also does capture and transport the masculine since it is also a large-scale work that catches the eye with its huge scale (often attributed to male classification). On the other hand, one could say, the “loudness of” it of its presence is through the birth aspect that is akin to women and their power to bring life into this world, which requires immense amounts of strength and perseverance. No, I do not describe myself as a feminist artist, or at least not in the terms of what feminist means now a days. Actually, I do not like to describe myself as any particular artist, already the term “artist” is enough!
Kyoko: What is your next big projects? What kind of works would you like to create next?
Eva: My next big project is my public art video projection at the 28 Liberty St. One Chase Plaza where I will show my “Recycling Shadows” video in beginning of April 2020. I am honored to show my work at this prestigious space on this huge 24-hour art gallery screen where also Yoko Ono had her video featured this summer. I dream of creating a film where I can join all the separate avenues of my work into one story. I hope I will not need to dream of this for a lot longer but will instead be realizing this in the not so distant future.
Kyoko: What is your goal as an artist?
Eva: My goal as an artist, or better said wish, is to feel that there is a level of understanding of my work from my audience by their connecting to it through their emotions or intellect. I feel especially happy when I see that people are moved by my work, because it is then that I feel that there is a connection which exists and which is made with the viewers, and this is as close as one can get to true understanding that I feel goes beyond words. I hope my work will continue to “touch” people on many levels.
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