Eva Švankmajerová

Eva Švankmajerová, née Dvořáková, was born on September 25, 1940, in Kostelec nad Černými lesy. She was a Czech surrealist painter, set designer, ceramicist, poet, and prose writer. For most of her life, she collaborated with her husband, artist and film director Jan Švankmajer.

She studied woodcarving at the School of Interior Design and subsequently studied set design at the Puppetry Department of the Academy of Performing Arts. In 1958, she first met Jan Švankmajer at DAMU, married him two years later, and in 1963, their daughter Veronika was born, followed by their son Václav in 1975.

Eva Švankmajerová's work is ideologically rooted primarily in surrealism and is a reflection of specific events as well as their conscious and unconscious, imaginary, or dreamlike reinterpretation.

Her artistic style evolved from almost neocubist figuration gradually towards stylized pseudonaivism and neo-expressionism. She was inspired by naive and folk art, fairy tale illustrations, as well as riddles, puzzles, and wordplay.

With her husband, she created ceramics that denied the utilitarian function of ceramics and stimulated imagination. Some of their ceramic works are created as continuous series, resembling stop-motion animation; in some works, they sought to restore the magical dimension to utilitarian activities, to give legitimacy to irrationality.

She also created the visual aspect not only for Jan Švankmajer's films. For example, she collaborated on posters for the films "Fruit of Paradise We Eat" and "Love Between Drops of Rain." However, cinematic collaborations with her husband were the most frequent. Her artistry can be found in films such as "The Pendulum, the Pit and Hope," "Alice," "Conspirators of Pleasure," and "Little Otik."

Eva Švankmajerová's literary work also draws on surrealism. This includes the epistolary novel with Vratislav Effenberger, "The Scourges of Conscience," the novella "The Baradla Cave," and most recently published "Pumpkins Backstage."

The work of Eva Švankmajerová, whether visual or literary, is timeless and continues to resonate in society, even though she passed away more than twenty years ago.