Vanja Vukelic
Spotlight
An online initiative featuring our favorite artists alongside a small collection of their works.
curated by and available through Skye Gallery.
THE NATURE OF DIVINATION
The Nature of Divination is a collection of drawings that are meant to provide an insight into the affinity between plants and women, and explore the relationship between artistic creation and divine inspiration by bringing together the feminine strengths of intuition, relational nature, clairvoyance, nurturing, and her existence in the cycles.
SKYE GALLERY (SG): What was the inspiration behind The Nature of Divination pages?
VANJA VUKELIC (VV): The ancient art of cartomancy, as well as the ending of one chapter and taking a leap towards new beginnings, while leaning on, trusting, and calling forth my intuition. In my experience of working 1:1 with many women across the world, I’ve seen how deeply the feminine has been controlled by the patriarchy. Constrained in a way that it made us doubt and mistrust our inner voice. Women are master healers, builders of realities, powerful creators - leading with our emotions and perceptions. This collection of drawings calls forth the aces for the unified feminine collective, while activating these metamorphic images with right action and profound trust. The works, honor, and celebrate the unwavering magic of women, extend to feminine forces at large, including our collective mother, the earth. “The Nature of Divination“ is a message to the feminine that we are divine and that we must trust in our power. When we work with the divination tools we can ground in cosmic energies to create new realities.
SG: Where are you living now?
VV: I’ve been on the road for the last three years, currently in Portland, Oregon.
SG: How has becoming a mother changed your life as an artist?
VV: My son turned one a few weeks ago, and I am just now slowly starting to envision my life as an artist again. All my energy, time, and love has been dedicated to full time nursing and taking care of Aquila Phoenix, which left little to no time to dream and create. Motherhood changed me completely, and one of the biggest shifts in the realm of art is that it has made me focus more on collaboration, on bringing people together, on reclaiming the Matriarchy. My son is teaching me how to communicate my needs, integrate my truth, and how important the connection and community is. All the elements I am weaving and embodying in my future creations.
SG: What is your favorite food right now?
VV: Perfectly crisp golden brown, potato pancakes, with greek yogurt and dill.
SG: Can you tell us about the multiple lives you've lived before this one?
VV: From a life lived in a spiritual reservoir, war survival, refugee, writer, raver, world traveller, psychonaut, to a spiritual seeker, lone wolf, plant enthusiast, artist, teacher, lover, community builder, and now a mother.
SG: When and why did you start drawing?
VV: In 2015 after one of the sacred plant sits in Brazil I was invited by the spirits of plants to let go of the life that wasn’t serving me and communicate the messages of the Earth. Shortly after I started practicing Vipassana meditation, drew mandalas every day, and started teaching myself to draw the visions that were calling on my attention in my waking and dreaming realities.
SG: How do you continue to make work when you do not feel inspired?
VV: I’m always inspired. I see and feel inspiration everywhere. I think it’s important to rest when we’re not inspired, when we’re tired. The artist needs idle moments to simply dream and imagine, to connect to nature and marvel into our inner / outer worlds without the incessant need to produce.
SG: What are you reading or listening to now?
VV: Chochin by Meitei
View the Collection
About the Artist
Vanja Vukelic, is a writer and a multidisciplinary artist currently based out of Portland, Oregon. Her artwork focuses on the sensual and mystical nature of art, aiming to depict her intimate connection to dreams, nature, spirits, and the unseen realities through a combination of delicate line work, color, and symbolism.
Creating images of the natural world allows her to constantly explore new depths within and without, in turn inviting the viewer to journey beyond limitations and see themselves and nature as one. Recurring mystical based narratives, transfiguration of plant-human hybrids and anthropomorphic flowers, all tie into the message of her work: the interconnectedness of humans and the world.
Past Exhibitions:
Metamorphosis
June 7 - July 14, 2019
