VRTNI NAMJEÅ TAJ - DalCasa

Touch of artŽena u krevetu / Woman in bed, 100 x 70 cmPainting is not a natural way of existence for awall or a canvas, but rather one of the possibilitiesfor human existence. A painting is also anever-ending dialogue between an artist andan observer. The projects of Tisja Kljaković speak preciselyabout that fact, as they communicate about thepossibility of a painting as a language, as one of themeans of communication. At the same time, they alsospeak of “the artist’s muteness” because the wholemagic of painting is contained in that duality: a desirefor expressing yourself and the decision to keep yourselfsilent. Painting picks up its communication path exactlywhere speaking lefts off.Tisja Kljaković is an artist from Split who has been buildingher recognizable artistic expression for several yearsnow. That expression is recognizable, yet always different.Ever since she graduated painting in the Academyof Arts in Split under the guidance of professorGorki Žuvela, she has been present in numerous exhibits,and her pieces of work communicate with thatspecific silent speech that doesn’t just provoke you tolook at it, but also makes references to the very startof the story. Observing one of her paintings demandsmore of you than just keeping your eyes busy, as you78can’t avoid starting to analyse it. A painting is her mostdistinctive medium, as she knows and feels that environmentwhile knowing her way around it really well. Apainting is Tisja’s speech. Near-abstract scenes, layersand fragile drawing, all of it squeezed and conflictedon the same surface, bring in specific dynamics andattrition while simultaneously creating the highly poeticalspace of unspeakable intimacy. The works of TisjaKljaković are characterized by a thread of mystique, adifferent reality that is never completely displayed, butrather hinted at. The charm of painting is contained inits eternal secrecy that we are constantly trying to decipherby looking at hidden reasons in everything wesee, and that is why we are confronted with a greatnumber of meanings when we’re facing a canvas orsome other painted surface. Simply put, a painting isconstantly sending us signals.A female figure and outspread laundry under a heavysky, a lonely silhouette standing in front of the cliff andthe sea, the weight of rain and the handle of a fragileumbrella, a motif from life, one story followed by theother, a feeling, fear, desire, satisfaction, indecisiveness– all these things are potential interpretations of a storythat is never concluded. Because the signs are right in