Kristína Bukovčáková’s (Slovak, b.1991) paintings have evolved thematically and formally, focusing on compositions featuring plants, soil, stones, flowers, and fruit. Transitioning from classical to airbrush painting techniques paradoxically brought a heavier, more complex visual and thematic dimension to her work.
Originally airy and figurative, her paintings now explore the intricate structures of tree bark, roots, soil layers, and fruit peels, evoking martial ritual masks. Amidst a world grappling with climate change, Kristína's art confronts the harsh realities of nature. Fruit decays, plant life struggles, and water droplets delay nourishing carnivorous flowers, while pests deform leaves into anthropomorphic shapes.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, her paintings found inspiration in garden pests, embodying themes of decay and struggle. Drawing from her experiences with her own garden, Kristína delves deeper into personifying plant details and symbolising devastation. Rotting pumpkin skins bear human faces, lotus stems bend under human feet, and dead leaves mimic human hands, alluding to humanity's destructive impact on nature.
Despite her dedication to permaculture and biodiversity, Kristína's paintings subtly lament humanity's inability to escape its destructive anthropocentric tendencies. While her time is divided between painting and tending her garden, the presence of human body parts within her art serves as a poignant reminder of our role in the natural world's degradation.