Flowing Roots Sculpture
Steel, strong and resilient, became a sculpting medium for my sculpture inspired by a river I grew up nearby in Poprad, Slovakia – the 167.4 km long Poprad River. “She” is for me a kind of symbol representing my roots, my belonging and the natural beauty of the Spiš Region. This river story starts when I discovered a disaster struck in February 2014. Twenty times more than allowed amount of cyanide was found in the Poprad River’s flow, starting in an industrial area of Matejovce. The poison caused deep damage to the effected ecosystems. Thousands of fish died and the habitat on the seven-kilometre-long stretch will take years to recover. However, and there is a big pause here. I choose not to cry over spilled milk and run around in anger, but I choose in this sculptural installation to celebrate this river-flow, its ongoing splendour and the healing it’s going through. I choose the steel, I choose the lasting strength and I choose to look ahead and show how important she is to me. All rivers deserve attention, admiration and appreciation; this is what my sculpture and the sound piece are about. I’d like to thank to SLOVENSKÝ VODOHOSPODÁRSKY PODNIK, š. p., Správa povodia Dunajca a Popradu for their support and help with gathering research data and materials about The Poprad River. I hope our collaboration can continue to grow in more future projects!
There is a sound piece to accompany the sculpture, which you can listen to here.