Mirko Junkovic
Mirko Junkovic is a visual artist based in Cambridge. He works across painting on canvas and on paper, mixed-media, drawing and objects, and keeps a continuing series of artist's books.
He took a certificate in education at Newton Park College in Bath and a degree in art and education at the University of Bristol, followed by a degree in architecture at the University of North London and an MA in Modern and Contemporary Literature at the University of London.
He shows regularly in Cambridge, including one-person exhibitions through Cambridge Open Studios, and his work has been shown at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.
Artist Statement
My abstractions are inspired by, and are, a response to different features of the extraordinary natural world, from both macro and micro viewpoints. Many aspects of landscape; coastlines, field-patterns, topography, rocks, plants - have all, at different times, provided a wealth of visual information contributing to various projects.
Drawing, in its broadest sense, is an important component in the process of assimilating, experiencing and recording such phenomena. The act of drawing, making a mark or a line, like handwriting, provides a fundamental, and, for me, important human connection with the work. This compulsion can be seen in many of the books documented in 'Turning Pages'. These books have also become convenient containers for experimentation with visual relationships, where anything and everything is possible and worth consideration.
Paint, ink and different types of paper are used inexhaustibly, either as ends in themselves or as potential starting points to develop further on a larger scale. This approach to making art is always intuitive and exploratory. Each new piece is an opportunity to embark on a journey into uncharted territory, exploiting the innate properties and characteristics of paint or mixed-media; producing the space for invention and discovery at every stage.
In this way, using different methods of application, the working surface becomes a field of activity on which the gradual accumulation of matter takes place, like a palimpsest, documenting and revealing the unpredictability of each encounter through both chance and intent.