ALEKSANDRA DEDIC

ARTIST BIO

Aleksandra Dedic was born in 1972 in Nis, SFR Yugoslavia. She graduated in English language and literature at the Faculty of Philosophy in Nis (1997) and sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade (2000). Due to the Italian Government Academic Scholarship, she realized painting research at Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti (2003∕2004). Later, she also completed a specialization for professional artists in the glass and clay studio at Ecole Supérieure d'Art et de Design in Marseille (2005∕2006). In 2007, Aleksandra graduated in visual arts at Aix-Marseille Université.

Officially a sculptress by vocation during her study, she also became interested in painting portraits. In time Aleksandra’s work expanded to photography as well. Her search for the means of expression and her research in contexts of identity and visual diversity of various topics develop through medium experimentation. This learning process has continued by sharing knowledge and experience through cooperation. In the meantime, besides creating her artistic production, she was an art teacher, author of creative workshops, interpreter and translator.

In 2011, she completed her Master in Artistic Production with a specialization in Contemporary Thought and Visual Culture at Facultad de Bellas Artes San Carlos in Valencia, where she defended her PhD thesis “Femininity and Feminism in Art Practices in Serbia: 1970-2010” in 2017. Since 2015, Aleksandra has been creating unique and authentic jewellery pieces as an independent jeweller and founder of MachoFema Jewellery brand.

Besides her hometown, Aleksandra lived and worked in Belgrade, Turin, Strasbourg, Marseille, Graz and Valencia; her artwork has been exhibited in Serbia and abroad at individual and collective exhibitions since 1997.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I am an artist interested in identity and visual diversity, and I have always felt the need to express ideas creatively. Thoughts could be expressed by writing but it somehow felt more alluring to offer personal opinions and universal truths in the mediums that epitomize real pictures and objects. Therefore, I started creating sculptures and soon began to paint as well. Next, I entered into photography as a more instant option for freezing an image in time. In the last decade, I have dedicated to jewellery which I treat as wearable art.

I used to believe that art is the individual way to express universal ideas. Now I think the line is not sharp, between personal and general, between individual and collective. The expression becomes blurred in its precision because our human experience nowadays is more overlapping and is generalized almost to a cliché mostly due to the internet's influence. Therefore, I believe it's necessary to follow one's way of expressing opinions, thoughts and attitudes to preserve individuality and develop identity. My artwork is dedicated to beauty and truth within comprehensive universality aiming to offer variety and freedom in expression and experimentation.

I also think that it is necessary to share knowledge through collaborations, to organize creative workshops and to teach others. Opportunities come and go but the essential need for creating remains on its own. It may deviate or modify but it is the ultimate need of humanity to develop both spiritually and mentally. For me, art is the source of creativity, hope and freedom.