PROJECT DESCRIPTION

In my work, I try to capture a moment of pure, raw emotion coupled with obvious human interaction and manipulation of material. Using clay allows me to do this. During the Belgrade Art Studio Online Residency Program I decided to focus my attention on the brutalist Spomenike (monuments) from WWII that dot the landscape of former Yugoslavia. These gigantic brutalist monuments, often located in the middle of large open grassy meadows, are shocking in their placement and their size. These monuments are already full of such strong emotion, I wanted to do my take on them.

One of the pieces I’m working on is my take on some of the spomonike from WWII that dot the countryside of former Yugoslavia. I’m currently fascinated with the “Three Fists” spomenik and am creating a version of one of the fists in ceramic.

THE PROCESS

I began with speaking to my immigrant parents about their recollections of the brutalist spomenike of WWII. Surprisingly, although they were aware of the more traditional monuments in the cities, they were unaware of the large brutalist monolithic structures that dotted the countryside throughout former Yugoslavia. I researched, found photos, and found the “Three Fists” spomenik, which grabbed me.

I started hand-forming clay slabs and piecing them together until I found the form of a fist. Not quite as defiant and determined as the ones in Nis, but more sympathetic, loving, a human figural form. As I began to make my marks on the clay, I was reminded of the diaspora of the Serbian people. I cut out a piece where the kidney would be and replaced it with a somewhat matching piece to echo this idea of diaspora and connection. When the form was complete, it looked unfinished, waiting. I pierced it, adding holes reminiscent of the bullet holes from the Yugoslav civil wars still readily found on the frontages of buildings.

UNITED STATES I VISUAL ARTIST

Daniela Soberman’s sculptural work is emotion and process-based where her interaction with the material is seen as a partnership between honoring the material, cajoling the material, and maintaining the honesty and evidence of human interaction and manipulation while capturing spontaneous, pure emotion. Her strong, weighty forms are infused with an equally strong emotional spirit which echoes her defiance of the notion that female artists are relegated to creating and making delicate works.

I don’t feel like I ever “got interested in the arts,” but rather it was a normal everyday part of life

I think there are many types of artists. Some are “technical” artists — where the technique of creating the art is of paramount importance. Some are “message” artists, where the thought process or message conveyed in the art is the most importance. Some are “internalized” artists, where the art is created out of something internalized that is waiting to come out. I think I fall into the latter category.