Misa Storkova

Artist Biography

Míša Štorková (they/he) is an emerging artist, craftsperson, and arts educator studying at the University of Calgary, currently based on Treaty 7 land but originally from the Czech Republic. Míša’s primary mediums are fibre arts and printmaking, though anything employing a hands-on mixed media approach lies within their interest. The scope of their art practice focuses primarily on the disabled experience, matrilineal relationships, and generational trauma – whether that be in regard to biological and/or found family. Míša strives to make works which question what we view as Fine Art, and to give voice to those who have been ‘Othered’.

My Mother

This piece is a reflection on my complicated relationship with my mother, simultaneously holding both immense anger and empathy.

My family has a direct line of matrilineal trauma going back as far as the collective memory stands, at least 5 generations. I often wonder what it would take to break this cycle of abuse, and whether it may have turned out any different for my own mother if she did not have children. The idea for this piece came to me quite spontaneously while I was searching through family archives for a separate piece, and I had the realization that I had never seen my mother happier than in the photos from before she had children.

In pieces relating to matrilineal relationships, such as this one, I find the medium of textile to be especially significant. Folk art, and specifically textile art, is a historically undervalued art form due to its association with the female working class. I was taught many fibre arts techniques by my mother and grandmother, who in turn learned these skills from their mothers and grandmothers. The women in my family have passed along both a line of abuse and a strong cultural tradition in textile arts. This piece reflects that, although my mother is a perpetrator, she is also a victim of her own circumstances.

About These Artworks: Perhaps + Cut Me Open

My series 'Parasitology' is one which uses specimen imagery, EcoCrip theory, and personal reflection to examine the Disabled experience. As a physically Disabled and Trans person, I have always felt drawn to the aesthetic of a cabinet of curiosities in an empathetic sense. Historically, cabinets of curiosities have often exhibited body parts of “othered” individuals, specifically the physically Disabled, Gender Nonconforming, and People of Colour. The basis of this work is photography, and I have worked to challenge the idea of photography as a “documentative” practice. To give my prints an explicit subjectivity, I abstract my images to give them a grimy, grunge aesthetic. Through poetic text, I challenge the typical voyeuristic gaze often projected onto “oddities.” In this way, I am the specimen, and through me, the specimen now has a voice. To make these connections, I draw on my experiences as a Disabled and Trans individual, where I have often been a subject of study and an unsolved anomaly within the medical system. Overall, this work utilizes imagery of scientific and collectable

specimens while prompting the viewer to ruminate on the prevalence of the

“othered” body in a cabinet of curiosities.