Réka Ritt Laklia (b. Budapest, 1978) based in London.

In her words:

“In my works, I explore the connection between nature and culture through the lenses of folklore, non-dualistic philosophies, mystical practices and other systems of metaphysical exploration as possible pathways to reconcile the two. I use copper as the ground I return to, recreating the haven of my childhood: my father’s copper workshop in Budapest. Copper, like water, is a conductor; working with it is a dialogue between inheritance and transformation. The material carries the trace of my ancestry; at the same time, my process draws on what I have gathered from living across cultures.

My latest paintings evoke the place where I first felt an intimate spiritual connection with nature: the Drava River and its surrounding floodplains. As all water bodies, this is a place of complex contradictions, initiation and death, connection and boundary, sustenance and destruction - and it is a powerful one. Réka means 'water', and these are the waters my ancestors lived by for many generations. In these paintings water spirits, hybrid creatures and dissolving bodies often appear, connecting and challenging traditions and patriarchal narratives about women and water with the modern ecological and political dimensions of hydrofeminism.”