Born in Croatia, artist Emanuela Lekić obtained her BA and MA in Portray from the Academy of Fantastic Arts in Zagreb. Whereas working primarily with paint, Lekić creates her personal three-dimensional fashions and staged environments, which she makes use of as bodily references for her painted scenes. “Marvelous Issues” is a collection that explores the twin nature of shelter as each a sanctuary and a possible lure. The works draw on the visible language of paper theatre, which turns into a metaphor for the delicate boundaries constructed round our lives: what’s revealed and what’s hid, what protects us and what leaves us uncovered.
“The theatrical settings replicate on displacement, belonging, and housing, contemplating how the areas we inhabit are formed by each need and worry. The rigorously constructed, virtually idyllic environments progressively turn into unsettling. When one thing seems too stunning, ordered, or excellent, it may cross right into a realm of unnaturalness, revealing an underlying rigidity beneath its floor. Via this distinction, Marvelous Issues considers how magnificence and discomfort can coexist throughout the similar picture, inviting reflection on the delicate steadiness between security and vulnerability.”
Emanuela Lekić participated in our 2026 Guide Award open name and made our shortlist.
