Vaulting by Tereza Tomanová 23.1.2026 - 15.3.2026Curator: Michal Jalůvka

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Paths of dry grass covered in hoarfrost conceal a few shriveled apples. The frost has not burned them; even now they are waiting to be discovered by chance. Only a handful of the last leeks are in a similar state. Bright green shoots cheerfully jutting out of the frozen soil. Everything else, however, is carefully stored in a place that cools in summer and warms in winter - just enough.

In her new project for Karpuchina Gallery, Tereza Tomanová moves - both metaphorically and literally - from the garden to the cellar. This is not merely a shift on a thematic or spatial level. It can be said to be directly connected to the cycle of nature and to processes of growth, maturation, and preservation. Tereza (like the author of this text) lives in a small garden house - within the city yet surrounded by nature. During our conversations, we returned to the topic of this specific form of living (with its joys and challenges) almost as often as to the upcoming exhibition itself. It is fascinating to observe how a shared experience, familiar sensations, and small details imprint themselves in Tereza’s paintings, which beneath their surface primarily reflect lived reality.

In the current series, Tereza continues to develop her authorial painting technique using hand - prepared natural pigments, obtained through extraction from red cabbage and other materials. In combination with additional substances, she allows these pigments to crystallize directly on the canvas. Organic structures, formed through the partly controlled proliferation of crystals, grow through abstract as well as representational motifs. The paintings probe relationships on an almost cellular level, only to emerge from beneath a rigid shell and turn their attention to ordinary scenes from a resting garden. Everything is permeated by a soft, billowing violet light. It is strange that its ghostly shades do not feel synthetic in any way, even though we encounter them in nature in this form and intensity only rarely. The magical and exclusive symbolism of violet here enters into contrast with its origin - “ordinary” cabbage. Yet the relatively narrow color palette defined by the author’s technique can by no means be perceived as a limitation. On the contrary, it functions as a structural element of a complex creative process, directly connected on many levels to natural processes.

Tereza does not entirely abandon her earlier theme of the garden. However, a new motif appears, inspired by a visit to a medieval temple complex carved into rock - a tangled labyrinth of corridors and chambers, essentially one vast cellar. Here it becomes a rediscovered form, a framework within which we can think about the paintings. It is a synthesis of functional architecture and ideal environmental qualities. Small elements - niches, vaults, recesses, and arches - create, in combination with the right temperature and humidity, the conditions necessary for preserving the fruits of the garden. The cellar is a place that bridges time, a fissure in the relentless accumulation of moments. A place for preserving what is good.

When we descend, a familiar earthy scent embraces us. We are where memories of summer are stored. And if they are properly kept, they can illuminate even the darkness of January.

– Michal Jalůvka