Iwona Demko

Peacock (2009)

Program: Vernissage Pavilion B Friday (19.03) 09:00 p.m.

Iwona Demko – born in 1974 in Sanok, graduated from the Faculty of Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. She gained an honours degree from the studio of prof. Józef Nowakowski. She lives and works in Kraków.

A peacock used to be venerated in many ancient traditions. It was assigned sublime meanings. In Hindu mythology, a peacock symbolised stars and the firmament, due to the patterns on its opal feathers. In the Roman times a peacock represented the deification of princesses. In Christianity a peacock was associated with immortality and the Resurrection. In the presentations of the Blessed Virgin in the Garden of Eden, the peacocks refer to awaiting the eternal life in heaven. It was not until the late Middle Ages that a peacock became a symbol of pejorative features – a symbol of pride and vanity, extreme confidence and lechery. This is how a peacock is associated up to now.

In my project a simple kitchen brush and a dustpan, glued with gold sequins flexes like a peacock on a high pedestal. The floodlights are directed at the peacock and its gold feathers are shining brightly in the light. In order to reach the vain and self-satisfied peacock one must walkon a red carpet…

We sometimes forget that celebrities are normal people, just like us. We have the impression that dressed up in beautiful clothes they become stars, distant and unreachable creatures, different from who we are. My brush and dustpan flexing in gold are, however, also a proof that every common man can become a celebrity nowadays…