Justice is my passion, but art is my heart. I also graduated from the Sarajevo School of Applied Arts. I fondly remember those days when I would come to school to work on my projects, even on the weekends. I tirelessly created fashion collections, tapestries, sculptures, and paintings, designed textiles and studied art history. I particularly loved sculpture and putting my hands into clay. 

 

At that very young age, I found the journey of art transformative. I painted in different media types: watercolours, acrylic, and oil, and explored drawing and sketching in pencil, ink and charcoal. I happily traded sleep, food and social contact for creativity.

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Since my hometown did not offer advanced fashion and textile design education and studying away was not an option, I decided to switch careers. It was not an easy transition as I loved arts, but I  was also very observant of injustice and concerned about fairness. Journalism, sociology, law, human rights and academia were all the following natural choices. 

 

Then the war broke out in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I would find myself transplanted to Chicago, escaping the war zone. I found no inspiration to create art for a very long time. Only recently, I started using a brush and canvas again and now feel unable to stop.

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Art taught me to observe the world with a sharp, critical eye and mind. My art training was rigorous and fun, resulting in lasting friendships and a passion for balance and harmony. 

 

The works you see here are created in two series. The first series is the study of home and identity with images of Sarajevo I took with me. The second is an exploration of feelings of identity, love, belonging, loss and hope, transcending time, place and locality. 

 

Between teaching, research and writing, there might be more paintings to come now that I have started to create again. 

 

You will note my expressions' depth in colours, shape and texture. I use gold and silver pigments in the new oil paintings, and some of these works may look very different when you see them in natural light. 

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Enjoy!