LIZA LIBENKO

All three works are part of Liza Libenko’s diploma project at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. The project symbolically reflects the contemporary state of the world through the artist’s personal perspective and builds on her work from the past two years, during which she experimented with format and materials while gradually moving from painting toward object-based practice.

The work is also inspired by the poetry of Georg Trakl, whose dark, introspective imagery informs the atmosphere of the project. In this sense, the pieces can be approached as a form of visual decadent poetry, inviting viewers to engage their intuition and immerse themselves in their own emotions and associations.

At the center of the project is the motif of the sunflower—one of the most recognizable symbols in visual art, traditionally associated with life, the sun, and vitality. Libenko reinterprets this classical symbol within a contemporary context. Her sunflower appears blackened, burned, and dark—reflecting the atmosphere of our time. Gradually, the form begins to mutate, dissolving into something unstable and unrecognizable, eventually transforming into something entirely new.