The exhibition Roots is the first presentation of the artists Tereza Kozinc and Hannah Schemel. At first glance, it seems that the works of the youngest generation of gallery artists could not be more different. Both approach their subjects with a sovereignty and with elaborate authorial styles that are immediately recognisable and distinguishable from one another. If we look closely, however, we can see many more similarities than differences between the two bodies of work presented.

Tereza Kozinc explores the medium of photography impulsively; her works record the unplanned moments of everyday life that catch her attention with a sincere, sometimes almost brutal bluntness. We follow the artist through the transition between two stages of her life, at the turning point when a woman-artist becomes a mother-artist. The creative act is thus at the same time an act of creation, and the bond between the creator and the created is not only invisible and emotional, but also supremely physical, biological and earthly. Between the tectonic shifts, the disintegration and re-establishment of priorities caused by the previously unimaginable weight of maternal responsibility, devotion and care for the other, the darkroom remains the artist’s sacred space. There, the tension that gave rise to a work of art is released, spilled and liquefied. Hannah Schemel has devoted the last years of her work mainly to landscape subjects, which she records again and again. In the Umi series, this is the sea around Quiberon in Brittany, and with the Kigen series, she focuses on the forest of Schwarzwald. The evolution of the two series is followed by her newest body of work titled The Clock in This City has no Pointer. The two ancient landscapes have captivated her not only with their varied, ever-changing forms of appearance, but also with the multilayered stories with which they are imbued. Her approach to her work is deliberate and serene – she uses a large-format camera, returning to the same location where she observes the landscape. Sometimes, a day can pass while she’s there, sensing its pulse and witnessing the changes in light, sounds and wind, without ever pressing the shutter button. The artist believes that by observing the same place over and over again, we are also confronting ourselves. The landscape that is formed in the mind of the viewer is influenced and shaped by our own experiences, memories, fears and dreams, and this ultimately becomes a creative act in itself. We can do two things with the roots that wind beneath us: they can be our cage, massive and immovable, or they can give us stable support; they can hold us in place, or we can use them as they were intended and grow with them. The approaches of both artists to this challenging task are through different paths directed towards the same goal – understanding the deep silence of solitude, making sense of each individual breath and finding calm and security in the rituals of the everyday.