Kufre: Luggage Photograph

Alena Alice Adamkova is an artist from Slovakia who graduated in Fine Art Painting in Bratislava. Her final projects, "Artbulance" and "Non-pictures," were completed for her bachelor's and master's degrees in fine art. In these projects, she reflected on her previous experience in healthcare and explored the idea of broken transmission signals displayed in blurred images. Alena has exhibited her work in several countries, including Slovakia, Germany, Czechia, Serbia, Hungary, and the UK. She has also joined creative art groups and collectives such as The Pudding Generation in Bratislava and The Wig in Birmingham. Alena currently holds a studio in Stryx, an artist-led studio in Digbeth, Birmingham, where she explores new ideas. One of Alena's most significant art projects is "The Communication Tower" in Synagogue Trnava, Slovakia. She created a 12-meter-tall object architecture from joined large acrylic paintings exploring the idea of miscommunication and questioning the medium of painting in contemporary art. Her latest project Lost & Found was inspired by Alena's personal journey related to the loss of her brother and extended to Alena's own experience of the return. Alena explored her relationship with her brother in the image projection of her brother in a manipulated photoshoot. For Alena, the image represents a notable memory event that she connects to by installation as a communication tool. Through the luggage installation, Alena expressed her painful experience of loss and grief, and the process of searching for her luggage was a healing journey for her. Alena called on the wider community on social media platforms to donate luggage for the exhibition and also collected suitcases herself from the people of Birmingham. Painting a diptych with the use of UV light underlines the concept of the project of Lost and Found. Alena's project “Lost & Found” was an honour to her family.