The phenomenon of happiness and the search for it through a physical and spiritual journey is the keystone that unites the latest series of works “Marbles” and is a logical continuation of my previous series “Helpful Things”.

Every painting in this body of work introduces a fragment taken out of a particular event, specific moments, objects and places which have positively affected me and left a sense of joy in an inventory of my inner experience; art itself, travel, mountains, sea, love, friendship, artist residency programs, animals, books etc.

Happiness is always elusive, an ideal to which we aspire to. It is very difficult to define. Through my paintings, I try to capture that thin line between the idea that happiness is outside of us and the concept that we need to find happiness within ourselves.

The duality (internal-external) that I encounter when trying to understand happiness is present in the paintings in the interior-exterior relationship. The viewer is placed inside a comfortable, safe and seemingly perfect room where it can be lost in reverie. Surrounded by elements rich in symbolism that tell stories, person is led to introspection, while at the same time is faced with a portal in the form of a window or door that introduce it to the outside world.

“Our house is our corner of the world. As has often been said, it is our first universe, a real cosmos in every sense of the word.” – Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space.

Closely related to the phenomenon of happiness is the motif of the game, which is repetitively presented on the paintings in the form of marbles, that occasionally leave the canvas as a site-specific installation. Through play, we free ourselves from learned patterns, explore unknown landscapes, descend into the unconscious and get to know aspects of our psyche, the elements from which the human being is woven, archetypes, shadow, self (Carl Jung). That way we get to know others through ourselves.

The central work at the gallery, after which the exhibition was named “Listen to the Hummingbird”, was inspired by Leonard Cohen’s last track recorded for his 15th and final studio album, “Thanks for the Dance”. For me, the poem radiates depth, beauty and simplicity, which reminds me that at certain moments we have the privilege to caught a glimpse of the answers to some big questions in the little things and to let ourselves go to them in order to take us from the complexity of life to a certain sense of tranquility. Accordingly, when my mind is cluttered and overwhelmed with information, through my works I try to summon things, simplify my environment and present temporary moments of happiness.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Vladan Sibinovic