In Her Garden (of Delights) presents the latest work by Juliana Mrvová, one of the most distinctive voices in Slovak contemporary art. Her large-scale neo-expressive paintings engage with ecological and environmental themes, combining classical craft of painting and technical mastery with an experimental approach to process, colour and materials.

In her practice, Juliana Mrvová weaves painting into the daily care of land and garden, guided by close attentiveness to natural processes, materials and their transformations. Plants are not merely a source of sustenance, but the very point of departure for her work. From flowers, bark, fruit and pruned branches, she produces pigments and plant-based dyes, which she applies to canvas and paper. Painting thus extends the garden by other means, where cultivation, harvesting, dyeing and image-making converge. A plum rendered in plum dye, or a drawing in oak-gall ink, is not a formal experiment but a deliberate act linking place, material, and meaning. Alongside this, Juliana engages metaphorically with her new and singular role as a mother, which, though never literal, has been quietly present in her work since the birth of her son.

In Juliana Mrvová’s work, fertile landscapes are closely linked to the presence of animals—salamanders, frogs, mantises, badgers, bats, and weasels. She regards them as carriers of biological and symbolic narratives. Fruit and certain creatures have long embodied notions of fertility, sexuality and transformation. Humans often appear at the margins of the compositions, yet their actions—through cultivation and disruption—profoundly shape the landscape, subtly altering its balance.

The exhibition In Her Garden (of Delights) continues Juliana Mrvová’s long-lasting artistic programme, in which painting serves as a means of observing and recording the relationship between humans and natural world.

Collaborative creation of works made with natural dyes — Wolves & Onions

Juliana Mrvová is Slovak painter and curator. Her work has long been shaped by motion—travel, journeys through the landscape, and artistic residencies. These journeys and her practice in diverse cultural and natural settings have been vital to her painting, providing a way to gather experiences, stimuli and visual narratives. She currently lives and works in Hontianske Trsťany, where she relocated with her partner and their little son. Here, her attention naturally turns to the immediate landscape and the wilderness in the backyard—and to painting as a means of conveying the intimate relationship between humans and the nature that surrounds them daily. Juliana Mrvová has exhibited in solo and group shows in Slovakia and internationally, and has participated in numerous artist residencies. Her work is held in public and private collections.