Jelena Vasiljev
Jelena Vasiljev (b. 1976) has a remarkable level of classical culture, creates dynamic installations in a variety of mediums. Her works explore the theme of power as aggressive violence, as a natural and instinctive impulse and as a cruel and bloody instrument that is adopted in so-called civilised human societies. The wolf is a reoccurring theme in her work, so much so that it has become her own symbol of reflection and a metaphor for the human condition, especially of those within her native Serbia. She does not deal with the tragic events that have swept across her country (and others) in an explicit manner or with documentary aspects. Rather, she tries to gain an understanding of the human condition with regards to life, death, and violence.
Jelena Vasiljev’s works draw inspiration from the Serbian poet Matija Beckovic, who in a poem uses the wolf and its system of hunting as a metaphor of the absurdity of people to continuously feed on their own blood. In her installation essendo così i lupi, several wolves made from plaster, gauze, jute and oakum, stand on the walls surrounding the viewer and create a space dominated by the predatory nature of ‘the pack.’ The wolves are consistent with a theme of violence perpetuated throughout her work, however they capture the sense of violence inherent in man. Like the wolves described in Beckovic’s poem, who continuously feel on their own blood, man too does the same in war. Vsailjev’s work poses the question of whether victims of war are victims of a predetermined fate written by the laws of nature and the animal in man.