Srdjan Segan

SRDJAN SEGAN – I was born in Knin, in the former Yugoslavian Republic of Croatia. I entered medical school in Belgrade, Serbia in 1991, this was also the time when I started to draw and sculpt under the influence of my anatomy classes. In 1995, I quit my studies at the university when I became a refugee. Soon after I began to take drawing lessons at the Belgrade Student Centre Community School under the instruction of Marko Ladjusic. Later, I worked as a teaching assistant for the beginner classes at the same school. At that time I also attended sculpture classes at the Unistitutional Shumatovacka School (1997-99). Due to my stateless status in Serbia, I decided to emigrate to Toronto, Canada in 1999. Here I became enrolled in the Ontario College of Art and Design in 2000, and graduated in the Summer of 2004.

On many levels, my work is related to the experience of war (which I experienced first hand), statelessness, displacement, questions concerning the basic human needs, and to an active search for, and re-creation of subjectivity. Through my work I tend to explore body movement in terms of elemental kinetic gestures in relation to space. Whether in sculpture or drawing, I am searching for the moment prior to decision making, a moment of tension or anticipation that precedes movement. In my drawings of dissected human figures the organs are replaced by different animal shapes signifying essential libidinal drives in constant tension with the rational human element. Moreover, I use the two dimensional surface of the paper as a substitution for human skin that yields to different body movements or gestures, creating a fluid language without attempting to narrate a story. In order to create a sculptural effect on paper, I experiment with different, mostly organic materials, such as wax and fabric dyes in combination with layers built and sealed with egg yolk. My work is mostly process based and influents by prehistoric artifacts and medical anatomy diagrams. When installed, the large-scale drawings are meant to actively interact with, and codify their environment opting for an engaging interaction with the viewer.

During and since my graduation I participated in numerous group and solo shows across Canada, the United States, Mexico, and the former states of Yugoslavia. I am also an active member of different art organizations and represented by Headbones Galley in Toronto, Canada. In the last few years I participated in several art events, as well as recommended young Canadian artists for a residency program in Serbia. Currently I am in a process of organizing a biannual residency/workshop in Croatia, starting in 2009. Through these different engagements my intent is to collaborate with different multi-media productions that would contextualize my work in new ways accentuating its architectural qualities.

(video source: http://www.artmagazin.info/)