ShowCase 系列展覽– 走進異境
無垠之處 A House with no Walls
藝術家：Anna Mikušková
展期：2021 夏 Summer
無垠之處, A House with no Walls
「你來自哪裡？」 到底這個問題我被問過多少次了？ 而在回答當中，又有多少次是我不假思索地說出「捷克共和國」這個名稱，從而滿足那些試圖從口音中人尋找我是哪裡人的好奇心。 然而，當我在所屬的兩個國家（美國和捷克）以外旅行時，同樣的問題卻讓我感到無所適從，不知從何答起。 「我來自哪裡？」這個「哪裡」到到底是在指那個我從小長大、塑造我並教會我母語的家族國家？ 還是指那個我最終落戶，找到我自己家庭、社區與歸屬感的另一個國家？
多年來，我一直通過攝影研究關於家與歸屬感的問題。 而在我所屬的兩個國家中，最令人感到舒適均是其風景，因此我選擇透過大自然來重新檢視個人在其中的位置。 一方面攝影機鏡頭可以讓我進行近距離觀察，另一方面，鏡頭又能讓我與自己保持距離，減輕了離開國家所感受的痛苦。
“無垠之處” 探討了我與捷克北部童年時代景觀的關係。在經過多年的缺席而重新回到家鄉後，我嘗試拍攝各種與家族歷史相關的景象，卻發現許多地方已變得面目全非或禁止進入。在各種現在與歷史地圖、個人敘事經驗以及景觀本身的帶領下，我試圖尋找各種線索來揭示了地方上不再存在的一切，在這個過程中，景觀迷失於過去與未來之間，所揭示的卻遠遠不及從探索過程中重新把個人童年時光連接來得重要。
“Where are you from?” How many times have I been asked? And how many times have I responded without thinking, “Czech Republic,” thus satisfying the curiosity of the person trying to place my accent. And yet, the same question leaves me dumbfounded when I travel outside the two countries of my belonging. Where am I from? Are people inquiring about the place I grew up, the country of my family that shaped me and taught me my first language? Or are they asking for the place where I have found my home, my community, where I feel I belong?
For years, I have examined questions about home and belonging through my photographs. Feeling the most comfortable in the landscape of either country, I have examined my place in nature. On one hand, my lens allows me a closer look. On the other, it lets me distance myself, lessening the pain felt after leaving a country behind.
“A House with No Walls” explores my relationship to the landscape of my childhood in the northern Czech Republic. Returning to my home-country after years of absence, I photographed places connected to family history and discovered that many had transformed beyond recognition or were barred from access. Guided by contemporary and historical maps, personal narratives, and above all, by the landscape itself, I searched for clues that revealed what was no longer there. Gradually, the act of walking through locations that seemed to have lost both their past and their future became more significant for reconnecting with the landscape of my childhood than what these places could reveal.
Anna Mikušková
Anna Mikušková 生於及成長於捷克，目前定居於美國阿拉斯加。 此前她於捷克布爾諾市 Masaryk 大學取得英國語言及文學碩士學位， 移居美國後，她於緬因州藝術學院和緬因州媒體工作室學習攝影，並於本年度取得羅切斯特理工學院攝影及相關媒體碩士學位。 在進入視覺藝術領域前，Anna 於人權領域工作，為移民和難民提供服務。
她的照片曾在緬因州，馬薩諸塞州和紐約的畫廊中展出，作品並同時被美國和捷克的私人收藏家收藏。 她的論文曾發表在《The Maine Arts Journal》和英國《On Landscape》等雜誌上。在2020年，她的個人作品“沒有牆的房子”獲得了美國 Griffin 攝影博物館的 ”評審之選” 的獎項。
Anna Mikušková grew up in the Czech Republic and is currently based in Alaska. She received an MA in English language and literature from Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic, and an MFA in Photography and Related Media from the Rochester Institute of Technology. For six years, she apprenticed as a silver gelatin printer with Paul Caponigro -a cooperation culminating with several group and two-person exhibitions. Before turning to visual arts, Mikušková worked in the field of human rights focusing on services for immigrants and refugees.
Her photographs have been exhibited in galleries across Maine, Massachusetts, and New York and are held in private collections in the United States and the Czech Republic. Her essays were published in The Maine Arts Journal and in the British journal On Landscape. In 2020, her project A House with no Walls received a “Critics’ Pick” selection by the Griffin Museum of Photography.
