BIO
Irina Lakicevic , born in 1988 , is an artist and the theorist currently based in London, UK.
Born in Pristina she was one of the victims of the conflict that took place on Kosovo in 1999.
After escaping from the war torn area her and brother were separated from their parents for almost 3 years and the first point of united family occurred under circumstances which led to the family coming to Norway as a part of the refugee program.
In 2003 they were admitted to a refugee camp in Northern Norway, where they spent almost 5 years before being granted permit residency.
Regardless of the vexing circumstances, the artist graduated as one of top 5 students in Norwegian high school, a feat that was possible due to the high amount of diligence and focus, as the language requirements set by the school were met within a year after coming to the refugee camp.
Upon finishing high-school (2007), the artist enrolled to the University of Odontology in Bergen, graduating in 2012 with the degree of Master of Odontology. Alongside working as a dentist for the state and working mainly with children and the elderly, the artist started developing a lifestyle/high-fashion blog which has within a couple of years made her internationally recognised.
By challenging postulates of how to dress, the artist became a pioneer in the field and has established herself as an icon within the industry with the help of street style photographers and numerous fashion magazines (Numerous Vogue’s, Harper’s Bazaar etc, Elle).
In 2018 the artist quit her job and moved to London in order to work in fashion.
However, upon arriving to the capital, the industries dealing with female bodies and the constant rejection of healthy guidelines has triggered a deep post war-trauma leading to withdrawal from the limelight and the industry in order to take care of her health.
During that time the trauma transferred into the art practice, and as a child of a former neurologist and psychiatrist (her mother was a head of Neurology Dep. in Pristina) the formal language employed in art was quickly understood for its transcendental potential.
Slowly but steadily, the artist regained footing and came to recognise layers and depth within the lines of Art theory. Simultaneously, due to the natural predisposition for cognitive sciences, the artist developed an interest in physics and neurosciences, culminating in a manuscript ‘Signes by the road, a yellow ball and the sorting hat – on the origin of life and consciousness’ where the artist employs language to retroactively highlight instances that have led to the complexity and diversity observable today and establishes a different proposal for emergence of consciousness and its further development.
Within that time the artist has gone through a major shift in the directionality as the understanding of the materialisation and toxicity connected to traditional medium has led to change towards the digital.
Taking a step back from the above mentioned the artist started employing printing on velvet (shimmer, 340gsm) as a technique. However, as printing is essentially and act of reproduction and compression of information, what peaked the interest is the aspect of transfer of aura within such process. By pushing her limits within the capacity of hyper-realistical representation and with the intention to achieve same depth and resonance as an oil painting, the artist also deals with the concept close to her upbringing – namely the realm of the real and the value of work defined and recognised for (and by) the embedded resonance within the domain of perception.
Apart from minor writings and musings the artist has also written an article that connects to Walter Benjamin’s famous essay ‘The work of art in the age if mechanical reproduction’ and extracts it’s essence alongside developing a theory concerning the acceptance of digital art in the present and future.
The article can be read and listened here.
Contact: Irina.lakicevic@gmail.com
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