In her work, Janja Kosi explores the relationship between people and space in its natural/architectural, given/constructed, contemporary/historical ... manifestations. Within this, she is concerned with the very notion of space, place and the relationship between the two, i.e. how space gives rise to place and the point when place begins to disintegrate back into space, the concept of home and homeliness, the subjective spatial experience and its physical, mental and emotional aspects, as well as the social perception of space in various contexts, e.g. urban, economic, political, etc.

A recognisable aspect of her art practice is the integration of various media into spatial installations, always conceived in dialogue with the specificities of the exhibition space. In this, the artist draws on her personal experience, as her creative process begins with the collection of materials – information, images, fragments – acquired from various environments, most often during walks through the urban landscape, and which she deconstructs, manipulates and reassembles into new arrangements through her work in the studio. The first step in this process is drawing, which develops into a complex artwork by st(rolling) through various media, with the individual stages added together in palimpsest ways. In addition to the materials and forms used, light and shadow play an equally important role, as does the interstice, that is, the void that the viewer fills with their own associations, memories and experiences. The works that emerge from this process remain open to multiple interpretations and personal readings – they invite us to find our own imaginary place within them, allowing us to settle in a tree house again or dream up our own castles in the clouds.

In this exhibition, the artist presents selected works from the Yutori cycle, a project in progress since 2023. In Japanese culture, the term yutori refers to the concept of creating space in time, thoughts and everyday activities, in short, a slowing down of one's pace of life. The works presented in the exhibition are therefore inspired by moments of stillness and in-between spaces. Their starting point lies in photographs taken by the artist while walking on her daily errands, in intuitive flashes during moments of relaxed observation of her surroundings. Based on these photographs, most of which focus on the relationship between architecture and vegetation, she made sketches and then transferred them into various media – collages, paintings, objects – through her creative process. All works produced are essentially (architectural) fantasies, a kind of contemporary capriccio, where organic forms intertwine with geometric or structural ones, and realistic details with abstract ones in a vivid, more or less imaginary colour palette. Through the interplay of these elements, fantastical wholes emerge that in a sense portray the image of a contemporary urban landscape in constant flux – reshaped, rearranged and perpetually »under construction«, often to the detriment of the (quality of the) living environment for humans, animals and especially plants. At the same time, however, the empty spaces that open up in between invite viewers to discover their own place within this bustling chaos, transforming it into a space of freedom, stillness and contemplation – pillow shots.

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Janja Kosi (1994) studied Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana, where she obtained her BA in 2016 and her MA four years later. As part of her studies, she furthered her education at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst in Leipzig. She received the ALUO Award for her master's thesis. She has presented her work in several solo shows, including at the R Space gallery in Ljubljana (2021), ARTkit – Kibla in Maribor (2022) and MGLC – Švicarija in Ljubljana (2023), and has taken part in numerous group presentations, including the EKO8 triennial, UGM-MTT, Maribor (2019) and the survey exhibition Layering, Cukrarna, Ljubljana (2024). She works in the fields of installation, painting, illustration and animation. She lives and works in Ljubljana.
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