LUL 2025 -Annual exhibition

28th Labin Art Uplift – 2025

I had the honor of participating in the 28th Labin Art Uplift (Labinski uzlet likovnosti), a long-standing annual event celebrating contemporary visual arts in Labin, Croatia.

This year’s edition continued its tradition of bringing together regional and international artists with Croatian roots, fostering dialogue between heritage and modern artistic expression. The exhibition featured a diverse range of works, reflecting the vibrant and evolving art scene of Istria.

Being part of this cultural event allowed me to connect with fellow artists, share my practice, and contribute to the rich artistic landscape of my hometown.

About my work:
Title: "Absent in Presence"
Media: Digital illustration
Size: 60x42cm

Description:
“Absent in Presence” is a visual poem about the crisis of contemporary existence – an
exploration of the unspoken tension between presence and absence in an age of digital
saturation. At the center of the image, ethereal figures gather – archetypes of family, parents
and children – placed in the same space, yet separated by invisible walls of inattentiveness.
There are no glances, no touch: instead, cold reflections of screens flicker – new totems that
shape attention, erasing the boundaries between the real and the programmed, the
emotional and the algorithmic.
The central screen becomes the bearer of the message, not without irony, exposing the
normalized patterns of alienation and dependence that contemporary society accepts
without questioning. The scene is surrounded by ornamental elements, resembling an echo
of a lost paradise – once a refuge and a symbol of salvation, now merely visual noise that
deepens the sense of dissonance. Paradise, it seems, has turned into a kaleidoscope of
absurdity.
Through a combination of digital illustration and textural layers, the work shapes a dreamlike
space where the present blends into a premonition of the future – a scene at once hyper-
modern and archetypal, deeply intimate and universally recognizable.
At the bottom of the image, a Sanskrit verse is inscribed – a kind of ancestral whisper, a call
to awakening, to the responsibility we owe to the generations to come:
“Om Pitriganaya Vidmahe Jagat Dharini Dhimahi Tanno Pitro Prachodayat”
(May our ancestors find peace in the realm of eternity. May the divine Mother Earth sink into
serenity, freeing us for conscious steps toward the future. May healing guide us toward
understanding, so that we may walk the path that connects us with those who came before
us. May the memory of our roots lead us into reverence for all that shapes us.)