We are so excited to have Denisa Prochazka on our esteemed panel of jurors for the 5th Edition.

Who are you?

My name is Denisa Prochazka and I am an artist based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. I am a classically trained figurative sculptor with a passion for portrait sculpture and figurative wall reliefs. I work in clay and bronze.

What inspired your start in sculpture?

I knew I would be an artist since I was very young. Perhaps it was a very natural path for me, as I could feel my passion for the creative outlet take shape in my early childhood years, growing up in my mother's ceramic studio in the Czech Republic. I admired my mom, watching her make beautiful vases on the wheel. The feeling of holding clay in my hands, trying to make a specific shape was thrilling; it was my favorite playtime. I was always fascinated by the depiction of human figure and representational art. There was never a shortage of figurative art in public spaces, statues of past kings, angels, fountains and ornamental facades on buildings and inside churches. The solidity of three dimensional art felt powerful and timeless.

What inspired your entry into figurative sculpture specifically?

At the age of thirteen, my parents made the decision to escape the political regime of then Soviet-occupied Czechoslovakia. Escaping through Hungary to Yugoslavia and eventually to a refugee camp in Austria was a shock from my beautiful childhood security and stability of home. It took 9 months to be accepted to Canada. The culture shock of being an immigrant in a new country, not knowing the language, the longing for my old home and way of life, and deeply missing my friends and relatives was a very difficult, lonely and challenging time. The effect of it made me submerge into art even more deeply. Attending a special Fine Arts Program in High School, I spent endless hours drawing, painting and sculpting, quickly becoming one of the top students in my class. I continued my post-secondary studies in Fine Art and Sculpture, graduating from O.C.A.D University in Toronto. To my great joy and astonishment, I was selected together with 20 students from O.C.A.D University, to complete my post- graduate year in Florence, Italy, studying Renaissance art history and learning to carve marble. Witnessing the awe-inspiring work of Michelangelo, whose sculptures had a tremendous impact on me, reinforced my love of sculpting the figure. My early childhood experience and love of clay led me back to this medium where I felt a complete freedom of expression through its tactile movement and flexibility; expressing feminine softness and high level of control; manifesting my visions into reality.

What do you hope to communicate with your work?

To me, mastering the art and technique of sculpting is a life-time process and I feel that I have only tapped a surface of its full potential.
The fascination to create faces and figures deeply expressing human emotions continues to be a powerful force all around the world. As a female sculptor in the 21st century, I want to continue to speak a universal language that communicates feminine empowerment and strength of spirit. My definition of success is to be an inspiration to others; to empower and inspire the feminine balance in this world; to be a visionary of truthful and healing art, to create a universal art form that speaks for itself through metaphoric meaning and symbolism, expressing strong feminine aura with modern thought and psychology of our contemporary culture. My goal is to bring my art forward to public spaces so that passersby can find peace, beauty and healing connection for a moment in time in their life’s journey.

What has been your most successful piece so far, and why?

I often let my inspirational visions guide me through the creativity of the final artwork. When that vision comes to me, I already see the finished sculpture in my mind. I loosely begin to sketch it in clay, allowing the creative spirit its freedom to manifest itself. The process of sculpting and being deeply present in the moment feels like bringing a dream to reality. I always remind myself that the learning process never ends and with each new sculpture, I strive to achieve the best version of my ideal vision.

The sculpting process requires not only the ability to analyze a three-dimensional form, volumes, understanding of anatomy and the practice of good technique, I believe the true talent lies in the ability to “see”. The art of seeing what is in front of us and the ability of “seeing” what's inside of us and being able to translate that vision into clay is what makes each sculpture completely unique. Like the human imprint of a fingertip, there is infinite variation and possibility of expressing the subtlety of human emotion and movement, to convey the complexity of the human spirit.
One such piece called “Warrior's Heart Wish” expresses this complexity of the human spirit quite successfully and has won a few awards.

Can you walk us through how you created that piece?

I created the sculpture “Warrior's Heart Wish” completely from my imagination. I had no photos, no reference or a specific model. I simply closed my eyes and let the vision I saw in my mind translate into clay. I often let my inspirational visions guide me through the creativity of the final artwork. When that vision comes to me, I already see the finished sculpture in my mind. When I finish a sculpture in clay, I apply layers of liquid silicone. After each layer dries and forms a unified silicone mold, an outer shell made of plaster called the mother mold is created on top of the silicone to hold it in place. The silicone makes a perfect imprint of the original piece, which can now be cast into many different materials such as hydro-stone, cement or wax for bronze. Creating a mold gives me the choice to create one original piece or limited editions of cast sculptures. The process of mold-making can be very complex, especially in three-dimensional sculptures conveying variety of figures in complex poses and movement. To me, mastering the art and technique of sculpting is a life- time process.

Looking back at your art career so far, what has been your most exciting opportunity/accomplishment? Why?

Currently, the most exciting opportunity has been to be able to cast my sculptures in bronze. I recently fell in love with the bronze casting process. The solidity of it feels powerful and timeless. Being able to cast my sculptures in bronze in an outdoor setting, including public spaces is what I'd love to dedicate my time, talent and energy to.

What projects are you currently working on?

I strongly believe in creating meaningful and healing artwork that has the power to transform people's lives. I became increasingly aware of my feminine perspective and reflection of the life around me. The need for creation became reinforced with the birth of my own child and the desire to heal, protect and empower. As an artist, I wanted to expand upon this idea and create sculpted portraits of orphaned children to bring the most vulnerable but not forgotten children to our society's deeper awareness. I decided to sculpt children from different orphanages around the world giving them a unique voice through a visual portrayal to give them visibility, importance, and deeply felt presence within a three- dimensional form.
This will be an ongoing personal project of mine for the next couple of years. I plan to create enough portraits to publish my own art book. Half of the proceed of the sale of each book will go back to the orphanages to support those children.

What advice would you give to an emerging artist?

The one word that comes to mind is Perseverance. The love of creativity, talent and freedom of expression is what I truly appreciate. I know it hasn't been easy in this crazy world pandemic, but I focus on always staying positive. It's easy to fixate on everything that goes wrong around us, the isolation, the disappearance of work, the diminished sense of purpose and meaning. I think that artists are very resilient navigating through change. For me, it is a great time of creativity within deeper reflections of life. I have been busy joining important art organizations, submitting artwork to art shows and competitions, envisioning new sculptures, as well as connecting with new clients. This time is difficult, but it is a blessing too. It is a time of reflection, a time of being grateful reconnecting with the people we love, and healing our world through deeper awareness of our own being and higher purpose.

To view more of Denisa Prochazka’s work

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