Svetlana Jakimovska Rodić: Made in Forest

The graphic artist Svetlana Jakimovska Rodić (1965, Kumanovo, North Macedonia) presents on her solo exhibition Made in Forest a series of monotypes and installations. For matrices of her works she uses tree bark in which the patterns made by the bark beetles are visible.
The traces of bark beetles are at the same time traces of the destruction of the trees and the birth of new life forms, which people fail to notice, as they are too small and insignificant. The artist’s interest in the “graphic” traces of the life cycle of bark beetles derives from exploring the reasons for the increased number of (invasive) insects, as a result of human irrational interference with nature, unstructured afforestation of monocultures at lower altitudes and climate change.

The lively and visually interesting patterns and traces of the insect’s movements stirred an interest within the artist. She decided to use them as matrices for her monotypes, with which she, paradoxically, revealed the exploitation of nature through an ironic self-analysis, for she “exploited them” in order to create her graphic prints and thus transform them into artefacts. She has merged the prints on paper ribbons into larger graphic installations by weaving and gluing the strips together and created an experimental layout in the site-specific spaces of the Lapidarium.

The works of Svetlana Jakimovska Rodić reflect the civilisation and the world. The story of the bark beetles encompasses the complex situation in which we live, for we can see, that the human mind, which is at the top of the hierarchy, everyday reaches new scientific achievements and develops surpluses and strategies, however, with all the technology at our disposal, we are still no closer to putting a stop to the destruction created by the bark beetle. The message of the exhibition reverberates as a warning of the possible destruction of the forests on the global level, which would inevitably lead to the destruction of mankind and invites us to a deeper reflection and consideration of the consequences of our acts for the future of our planet.

Curator: Kristina T. Simončič

Photo: Maruša Lapuh