PRINTS
SOPHIE SERIES
The series of four prints represents my homage to the Countess Sophie Chotek von Chotkow und Wognin, better known as wife of archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914.
Year 2014 marks the centennial of her death. I used images of embroidered handkerchiefs in each print to metaphorically represent different stages in her life.
The first print from the series uses a delicate piece of embroidered textile of Czech origin from the XIX century to symbolize her life in family circle before entering the rough reality of the imperial court of Vienna in year 1900.
• Archival Pigment Print
• Limited Edition
• Signed by Artist
• Limited Edition
• Signed by Artist
The second print refers to Sophie’s life in the highly socially stratified structure of the court, where beautiful and wise Sophia was treated as a pariah because of her “low” birth. Handkerchief serves as a symbol to express many layers of meanings; its rich embroidery is a gilded frame to the void interior.
• Archival Pigment Print
• Limited Edition
• Signed by Artist
• Limited Edition
• Signed by Artist
The third print refers to Sophie’s life on the Viennese court after 1909 when she was given a title of Duchess. As on the other prints from the series, the textile motif is followed by typographic elements – a letter from the name of the heroine, SOPHIE, is executed in the ornamented schwabacher type – here letters H and I.
• Archival Pigment Print
• Limited Edition
• Signed by Artist
• Limited Edition
• Signed by Artist
The fourth print refers to Sophie’s death in Sarajevo in 1914. Destruction and emptiness dominate the composition. The ornamentation on the border of the handkerchief bears the coat of arms of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; the center of it is dark and empty. The whole disappears into nothingness. The last letter of Sophie’s name – E – vanishes into darkness.
• Archival Pigment Print
• Limited Edition
• Signed by Artist
• Limited Edition
• Signed by Artist
