Carpe Diem: Sculpture Sketches

«Carpe Diem» is a series of five life-sized figures of Kulikovska's body cast from epoxy resin, which was created during 2017-2018. These sketches became the first attempts of the artist to transform into artistic form her own interpretation of the definition of carpe diem, which subsequently received the three-dimensional forms.

The expression carpe diem is interpreted as a call to live with pleasure every day, without delaying the possibility of a full life to an uncertain future. In this sculpture series, the artist continues to criticize the patriarchal constructs of government and society. The main instrument, material and method of Kulikovska is her own body. The series «Carpe Diem» is also a conceptual long-term experiment of the artist with the vanitas motif, which defines human life as something unprotected and ephemeral.

«Carpe Diem» is a discussion about physicality, about accepting oneself, about norms and morals in society. Every time after the show in public space the «clones» of Kulikovska's body, the real body of the artist immediately becomes the subject, which is trying to be independent and free. That is why Maria Kulikovska calls on everyone to live freely and to make lives extraordinary and incredible, making their own decisions rather than following the manipulations of others, remembering that life is fleeting and fragile.