Kristina Zimbakova is an artist from Macedonia creating mixed-media paintings and drawings, wherein she applies real lichens, obtained from dry collections or harvested during personal forays. Lichens are a symbiotic association between a fungus and algae or cyanobacteria. In her artistic endeavors, she collaborates with scientists from Ss Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, who assist in lichen identification. Zimbakova creates letters and other intricate shapes and texture out of lichens, then glues them onto the surface of the artwork.
Poems, Suitcases
A miniature (21 x 10 cm) from the art installation entitled ‘Poems, Suitcases’, inspired by the oeuvre of the seminal American poet Sylvia Plath (1932-1963). Mixed media on paper (acrylic, pastel, graphite, hemp fibre, lichen Pseudoevernia sp.). Year 2013.
Poems, Suitcases_lichen Usnea sp.
Poems, Suitcases_lichen Pseudoevernia sp.
Poems, Suitcases_lichen Evernia prunastri
Drowned by Time
Mixed media on canvas (acrylic, hemp fibre, burlap, wax, lichens Pseudoevernia sp., Lobaria pulmonaria, Graphis scripta). 80 x 45 cm. Year 2013.
Mum Won't Hear
Mixed media on canvas (acrylic, graphite, silk, lichens Xanthoria parietina & Usnea sp.) 60 x 50 cm. Year 2014.
Detail_Mum Won't Hear
Concealed Revolution
Mixed media on mattress (acrylic, charcoal, silk, lichens Pseudoevernia sp., and Xanthoria parietina;) supported by Fomes fomentarius fungi. 200 x 90 x 17. Year 2014.