PETRA VLČKOVÁ

Exhibition: 6. 11. – 30. 12. 2024

Petra Vlčková is a promising Czech photographer whose life and work are necessarily affected by the diagnosis of a serious illness. As part of her doctoral studies, she is currently working on a long-term project about multiple sclerosis. It is an open, long-lasting series of photographs, collages and videos. MS is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the human immune system attacks the nervous system. The project reflects the everyday contact with the disease and accentuates the hidden fascination with the uncontrollable transformation of one’s own body through photographs and collages. With this series, Petra maps the disease from above, using photography as a tool to help her understand and improve her ability to observe the subject matter. She has divided the work on illness into several strands to form a unified whole at the end, which will be built up into several layers. She explores her illness through personal experience, time, space, emotions, body, family, scientific facts, and professionals. The deconstruction of one’s own illness through artwork simultaneously serves as art therapy and public education.
Petra Vlčková (*1985) studied at the Institute of Creative Photography in Opava, where she is currently pursuing her doctoral studies. She has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in the Czech Republic and abroad and her work has been published in prestigious photography magazines.