The Pilgrim, 2013

mixed media

70 x 60 x 60 cm

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.