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ARS POETICA The main concept of my works is the simultaneous representation of time and space, using reflective metal surfaces applied to the images. This allows me to create a connection between the past and the present in such a way that the images themselves are already from the past, but when the viewer stands before them, they will perceive the present moment. They will see themselves and the space behind them. Moreover, these snapshots of the present and the space will always change, depending on time, place, and context. László Retek ABOUT ME I was born on September 10, 1967. I live and work in Padej (Vojvodina, Serbia). I have been self-taught in the field of fine arts since 1988. In the 90s, for five summers (1993-1997), I was a full member of the third generation of the Temerin “TAKT” (Visual art colony Temerin). I learned the basics there, but I mainly learned the rest on my own. Participating in the camp was a defining experience for me. The experiences I gained there and the joy of creating had a great impact on me, which later on always gave me strength to continue my work. That’s when I committed myself to art. Since then, I have been trying to increase my professional skills as a,,freelancer” with a lot of persistent and in-depth work. My creative activity has gone through several phases from the beginning to now, as is usually the case. For some time now, I have chosen a form of gesture painting as my main artistic means of self-expression, in which I have found creative freedom and routine, and within that, I am interested in writing, text and words as visual signs. Depending on my mood, at the time of the work's completion, the hidden or not hidden words and sentences and the calligraphic lines, gestures, and brushstrokes that imitate them become my personal writing. I try to bring my emotions and outbursts of mood into these pictures, where the main emphasis is on the dynamic brushstrokes. Painting for me is an experiment, a challenge, freedom, and suffering at the same time, the driving force of which is curiosity. I try to create something new, or something old that has not been seen before in the form in which I paint. Therefore, in my latest series, I apply polished perforated stainless steel sheets to my works. These reflections, as visual and symbolic elements, bring to the surface the diversity and layering of the self- as if the viewer were also confronted with himself through the paintings.