Eclecticism and Creative Freedom: Listening to, Observing and Absorbing the World

I have never found it particularly easy to define myself through a single cultural tribe.

My relationship with music, for example, does not follow one specific style or genre. I am curious about very different sounds, coming from distinct cultures and musical worlds that do not necessarily share the same language.

This curiosity goes beyond music.

I enjoy observing different cultural expressions, sports, visual languages, architecture, nature and human behaviour. I am interested in what lies outside familiar territory, in the unexpected and in whatever raises new questions.

My eclecticism does not mean a lack of identity. On the contrary, I believe identity can be precisely the ability to select, absorb and transform references without having to reproduce any of them entirely.

I do not feel the need to belong to a specific movement to legitimize my artistic work.

The world offers an enormous range of possibilities. Music can awaken a feeling, an image or a memory. Architecture can inspire reflections on space and proportion. Nature can teach us about rhythm, balance and transformation.

These experiences do not need to appear literally in a sculpture to become part of its creation.

I believe an artist's repertoire is something alive. It changes with time, travel, people, books, conversations and even silence.

Perhaps that is why I value the freedom to experiment so deeply.

I do not want my work to be restricted by a predetermined classification. I want to keep discovering possibilities, working with materials and developing my own artistic language.

To me, being eclectic means keeping the doors open.

painting credit: Tavia Juckisch© 2013     @tavia.juckisch



A framed portrait hanging in a gallery, with Wilson Isfer smiling beside it

I have never found it particularly easy to define myself through a single cultural tribe.

My relationship with music, for example, does not follow one specific style or genre. I am curious about very different sounds, coming from distinct cultures and musical worlds that do not necessarily share the same language.

This curiosity goes beyond music.

I enjoy observing different cultural expressions, sports, visual languages, architecture, nature and human behaviour. I am interested in what lies outside familiar territory, in the unexpected and in whatever raises new questions.

My eclecticism does not mean a lack of identity. On the contrary, I believe identity can be precisely the ability to select, absorb and transform references without having to reproduce any of them entirely.

I do not feel the need to belong to a specific movement to legitimize my artistic work.

The world offers an enormous range of possibilities. Music can awaken a feeling, an image or a memory. Architecture can inspire reflections on space and proportion. Nature can teach us about rhythm, balance and transformation.

These experiences do not need to appear literally in a sculpture to become part of its creation.

I believe an artist's repertoire is something alive. It changes with time, travel, people, books, conversations and even silence.

Perhaps that is why I value the freedom to experiment so deeply.

I do not want my work to be restricted by a predetermined classification. I want to keep discovering possibilities, working with materials and developing my own artistic language.

To me, being eclectic means keeping the doors open.

painting credit: Tavia Juckisch© 2013     @tavia.juckisch