Đurđica Kovačiček
Faith, 2014
casting, bronze; silver wire
diameter=74 mm
MG-8241

Kovačiček obtained a degree in sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in 1981, in the class of Prof. Želimir Janeš. She has had four solo exhibitions and participated in several group exhibitions, and has exhibited regularly at the Ivo Kerdić Memorial Triennial and international FIDEM exhibitions. She is one of the most important contemporary Croatian medallists. She created gold and silver coins with the motif of the National and University Library and Antun Mihanović, as well as medals for members of the Executive Council of the City of Zagreb in 1990-1993.
She selects materials and interpretations for her medal works in a completely personal and symbolic manner, and they are refined stylizations of spirituality integrated with universally understood symbolism. The world she creates in her medals is determined by faith, hope and love. She subtly accentuates them on embossed bronze surfaces, often applying fragile materials such as glass or wire.
On the medal Faith, a cross with asymmetrical arms is inscribed in a circular field accentuated with an irregular relief, and intersected with the crown of thorns. The work simultaneously elicits staying power but also the fragility of perseverance and hope, survival and faith, referring to the artist who created deeply intimate small-scale artworks of refined form with great spiritual content.

Text: Tatijana Gareljić, Museum advisor of the National Museum of Modern Art © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb
Translated by: Robertina Tomić
Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb