Patrik Proško

Butterfly Collection is based on casts of an intimate part of the female body, whose symmetrical form evokes the spread wings of a butterfly. The fragment of the body is removed from its natural context and transformed into an autonomous object, which is then displayed in a manner reminiscent of an entomological collection. The principles of collecting, classifying, and preserving are confronted here with the intimacy of the human body. Like a pinned butterfly specimen, each cast is fixed at its most sensitive point with a nail or screw to a backing surface or directly to the trunk of a tree. A gesture that seems entirely natural as a method of preserving a biological specimen takes on a disturbing meaning when applied to the human body. The work moves between attraction and violence, intimacy and exposure, the living body and the collected specimen. What is normally hidden and private becomes an exhibit intended for observation.