Photos: Ondřej Polák and the author’s archive
The chapel is primarily designed for wedding ceremonies, but it is assumed that it will be consecrated and can therefore also be used for ordinary church ceremonies. One of the possibilities offered is the consecration of the chapel of St. Catherine (or St. Catherine of Alexandria).
A figure of a walking man who is connected to the black disc circles on the ground through branching roots and braid. The braid turns into a pilgrim’s staff.
Amodeled male nude in approximately life size. Figure cast from patinated bronze. The root parts are either also made of bronze, or a combination of bent and welded stainless steel. The base consists of nine circular slabs of black polished granite. Everything is anchored in the foundation concrete.
Awalking pilgrim, a person traveling through the landscape – through life, through all the dangers and events of life. He goes through the world and can’t just avoid touching the dark places. The nine dark circles can be both a symbol of wandering through the universe, but also a kind of paraphrase of Dante’s wanderings.
The Pilgrim – the statue of the Pilgrim was created on the basis of earlier work with the structure, which should enhance the dynamics and compositional solution of the whole statue. The starting point was partial work on a competition design for a statue – a memorial to Nikola Tesla in Prague (joint work with Michal Šmeral – although the work succeeded in the competition, it was not realized). The original structures of stainless steel tubes with sharp bends in the study of Nikola Tesla’s statue were replaced here by dynamic spirals that symbolize the energy but also the boundedness of the walking figure of the pilgrim. The pilgrim walks through the nine circles of hell (a partial inspiration of Dante’s Inferno) and despite his ideals and determination, he is constantly sucked and bound by powerful darkness.
Will-o’-the-wisp – a sculpture belonging to the theme of fairies, similar to the Little Mermaid. It was based on a small sculpture of the same name made in 2012 thanks to a private investor (a bronze version was also made with his support). Compositionally, the sculpture is based on a yoga position called Bakasana, but this time it is also modified and shifted position and is not a mere illustration. The statue of Will-o’-the-wisp is understood here as a form of a restless supernatural being who tries to seduce the pilgrim from the right path by his appearance and form.
