Metka Kavčič
Lace
2007, welded sheet metal
>> 4 June–29 September 2024
>> Selection: curator Katarina Hergold Germ

The complex wealth of patterns from intricately intertwined threads in masterful variations of various lace products has captivated Metka Kavčič, an academic sculptor and art restorer-conservator from Maribor, for many years. Her dual professions give her a unique sensitivity for objects that are either direct material remnants from our rich cultural heritage — as evident in her renowned Doors series, showcased in 2008 at the KGLU in a dialogue with Bogdan Borčić — or expressions of surviving traditional knowledge as preserved in the craftsmanship and material heritage of the famous Idrija lace. Particularly impressive is the innovative way in which Metka Kavčič has translated the fragility and softness of lace objects into solid sculptural material. As early as 2006, at the ambient exhibition Intertwined Traces at the Maribor Art Gallery, the sculptor presented a series in which she created various lace structures by intertwining metal wire and rolled sheet metal. She succeeded in imparting a sense of soft lace fabric to the sculptural objects through various patterns created by perforating sheet metal. With such a transformation of lace on material and consequently a metaphorical level, she expanded its field of meanings. Her lace sculpture thus offers the viewer the possibility of a meditative reflection on valuable cultural relics of the past and their potential for the future.

Metka Kavčič (born in Maribor, 1960) studied fine arts education at the Faculty of Education in Maribor and then graduated in sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana in 1987. She then completed postgraduate classes in conservation and restoration in 1990. In 1998, she furthered her professional expertise at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. For eleven years, she worked as a conservator-restorer at the Ptuj Regional Museum. Since 2000, she has been engaged as a self-employed cultural worker. Her sculptural oeuvre includes works made from traditional sculptural materials and themes, as well as spatial installations and sculptural cycles that transcend conventional views of sculpture. She lives and works in Maribor.

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As part of the project Curator’s Selection, we present selected works from the collection of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Koroška – that either address current social situations or represent particularly interesting and perhaps lesser-known segments of gallery’s collection.