I have been surrounded by paintings since my childhood because my father is an art collector. Thus creation and art were for me as natural as breathing. And as in our breath which brings us not only air but also prana reviving us every minute, in painting there should be also the same kind of energy behind mere image that will capture our attention and will draw us into its world.
In the country where in not so distant past we were “all equal” and mediocrity was an official ideal, people created their own worlds where they were free. Some read the banned books, some listened to prohibited radio stations, some translated books that did not have a chance to be published officially, some wrote novels and plays for samizdat (underground publishers). I painted and made sculptures for my family and my friends. After “Velvet Revolution” in 1989, as if a suffocating cover was lifted up, people rediscovered their potential and creativity, skills and abilities, and started to develop them.
Finally Czechs could also start travelling abroad. My desire to learn more about different cultures led me to various countries and continents. I was not interested in cities and places crowded with tourists, more I took my journeys as a challenge to see what my limits are. Whether it was scuba diving in Mediterranean, tracking mountains in Asia, exploring Amazonian forest, working in the Caribbean, it all helped me to get to know myself better. I had a chance to meet American Indians in villages and missions in Venezuela, tribes living in the Altai mountains in Russia, people coming from various parts of the world in Osho, Sathya Sai Baba and Mata Amritanandamayi ashrams in India. Exposure to this colorful diversity has enhanced my appreciation of richness of the world cultures. From my journeys I drew inspiration that helped me to develop another path of my career.