Lumen

This work explores the way hero stories shape experiences. Suffering, sacrifice, meaning, love, paradox, mystery, God, eternity - these transrational phenomena appear in hero stories in all cultures. Troj grew up with stories about communist heroes who fought for justice and sacrificed themselves for the rights and freedom of others. The artist says that this is "at first glance, just as much fairy dust as in any old tale, but something happens when the hero always dies at the end. The message is clear – be willing to die for something you don’t understand."

Iva Troj on her artvocate-exclusive series: "Artistic activism is where the creative power of the arts to move us emotionally meets the strategic planning of activism necessary to bring about social change. It’s a powerful combination. At first glance art and activism seem to have different aims. Activism moves the material world, while Art moves the heart. The thing is, social change doesn’t just appear out of nowhere, it happens because people decide to make it happen. Most people have deeply rooted belief systems. For them to change their mind about something and start acting towards change, their emotions must be engaged. It’s what Art is for. It disrupts old beliefs to ignite courage."

Iva Troj 

Iva Troj, 2020 and 2016 GAA Artist Of The Year, 2016 Palm Award Winner and 2019 CAF Artist Of The Year, is an artist known for merging Renaissance aesthetics and techniques with postmodern praxis. Her recent projects include a solo show in The Louvre, Paris and the “Master Piece” inspired by the Halo Infinite, in collaboration with Microsoft.

Her intensely detailed images achieve astonishing tricks of light and shade, as practiced by the great masters while incorporating dreamlike scenes which challenge cultural norms. Exhausted by a society in which women often feel vulnerable, threatened, or powerless, Troj recasts the fairer sex as powerful creatures, freed from the oppressive male gaze and placed within Edenic settings where they can revel in their own beauty and potential. Blending abstraction with figuration, the natural world with the urban landscape, dream with reality, Troj’s breathtakingly beautiful artworks achieve something truly unique, both in terms of aesthetics and concept.

In 2016, Troj was named Contemporary Art Excellence Artist of the Year and, in 2013, was the winner of the Towry Best of East England Award. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally and her work is in collections in the UK, France, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, China, United States and Japan. In 2020, two of her paintings were included in the permanent museum exhibit at Haegeumgang Museum 해금강테마박물관] in South Korea.

Based on our agreement with the artist, 15% of the pre-VAT price excluding frames will be donated to support the social movement. Donation will be given to Atlas Network.