Artist Statement
Catharina Bond. What Shells.

This exhibition could be seen as a travelogue into another identity. It is an attempt to take a different position or an active effort to do something completely different from before. Ultimately, it is the sobering realization that you cannot outsmart yourself.

It all started with a DNA test. My sister wanted to find out more about our grandfather, as the man who was officially recognised as our grandfather may not have been our father's biological father. The results confirmed that my sister is 30% Croatian on her father's side.

At the same time, I was developing a new exhibition concept. Freed from my previous aristocratic origins by the test results, my new Croatian identity motivated me to create works that were completely different aesthetically. I had previously often taken a critical look at social hierarchies in a conservative, aristocratic society, but now I tried to see myself as a "Croatian" artist. Yes, it's a bit simplistic, but if you don't want to be known as just THE chicken skin artist, you have to come up with something!

Initially, I painted scenes that embodied my associations with Croatia: the sun, the sea, nature, and cheerful colors. After painting a sunset, a palm tree, and a few plants, I finally received the results of my DNA test. I had never actually been a Croatian artist. My Germanic, Polish, Dutch, and English ancestry did not lend itself to sunny associations with cheerful colors on a stretched piece of fabric. However, the test also confirmed that my sister and I do not have the same father.

So, what is true? After a few weeks of carefree painting, I was brought back to criticism and the search for truthful information. Fact-checking and fighting disinformation to protect democracy are more important today than ever. In our case, disinformation is probably more a means of protecting a family's social status.

The question of which father is the real one, and by whom, will remain unanswered. The shared mother has passed away and the official father is discreetly refraining from making any statement.

What Shells. It was delightful!