Patrik Proško

The anamorphic portrait of Tomáš Krýza (1838–1918), a hosiery master from Jindřichův Hradec, draws on his lifelong work on a monumental mechanical Nativity scene, which he created over more than sixty years. Krýza’s Nativity Scene covers an area of approximately sixty square metres, is listed in the Guinness World Records and today forms part of the permanent exhibition of the Museum of Jindřichův Hradec. This portrait was also created for the museum’s permanent collection. The installation is conceived as a reconstruction of an imagined space of Krýza’s workshop. It includes a workbench, cabinet, stove, tools, vices, suitcases, old newspapers, targets, figurines and other objects associated with the period setting. The composition also incorporates discarded original parts of Krýza’s Nativity Scene — model houses, carts and mechanical elements made by his own hand. The work also engages with themes of patience, craftsmanship and sustained concentration on a single creative process — qualities shared by both Krýza’s Nativity Scene and the construction of the anamorphic installation itself.