“Warrior’s Heart Wish”
Discover the Winning Masterpiece
Denisa Prochazka
Artist Locale: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Subject Matter: Female subjects
Medium: Clay finished in bronze, hydro-stone, aqua-resin, cement, aluminum and steel
About Warrior’s Heart Wish
“Warrior’s Heart Wish” is a sculpture that symbolizes the power and strength of a woman warrior, yet the vulnerability of the heart which resides in all of us. The artwork is an expression of female empowerment, healing and nurturing of our sacred world. Healing – as a universal language and a symbol of becoming aware of your own resilience.
Symbolism transcends the physical into the spiritual realm. I strongly believe in creating meaningful and healing artwork that has the power to transform people’s lives. Some of my sculptures are specifically created for donation to Women’s Shelters, as well as charity projects to support orphaned children. I believe that art has the power to transform us, to inspire us, and to bring us closer to the truth of who we are as human beings. My goal as an artist is to bring my art forward to public spaces so that passersby can find peace, beauty, and a healing connection for a moment in time in their life’s journey.
Artist Statement:
My artistic journey takes me all the way back to my childhood playtime in my mother’s ceramic studio. The familiar texture and feel of clay felt like touching ancient earth, and the creative outlet felt calm and soothing. I was fascinated how a lump of clay could be formed into a little animal or figurine right under my fingertips. It was a beautiful dreamy escape into a world of imagination and it never ceased to exist to this day.
I was born in the Czech Republic in the communist era, and my family escaped the regime when I was thirteen. We settled in Canada and I continued my education in Fine Arts and Sculpture. It was a difficult transition time, loosing one’s country, the ability to speak your language, the unfamiliar new culture. Art became once again a beautiful escape into a safe and familiar inner world.
After I graduated from the Ontario College of Art & Design University in Toronto, I was chosen to study in Florence, Italy, for my post-graduate year. It was a life-changing experience to witness the awe-inspiring artwork of Michelangelo, as well as other masters like Leonardo DaVinci, Bernini, Botticelli and so many more. This is when I truly fell in love with the representation of the human form.
Although I explored other mediums such as carving marble, my early childhood experience and love of clay led me back to this medium where I felt a complete freedom of expression through its tactile movement and flexibility, expressing feminine softness and a high level of control, manifesting my visions into reality. I create all my original sculptures in clay and finalizes the artwork in a variety of media such as bronze, hydro-stone, aqua-resin, cement, aluminum and steel.
There is another element to my artistic expression, one that transcends the physical realm and speaks to the ethereal essence of the human spirit. The themes in my work are often inspired by the feminine nature that comes from within, as a woman and a mother. Many of my sculptures depict female subjects created to empower and inspire the feminine balance in this world. The sacred feminine is the essence of life, a symbol of creation, unconditional love, resilience and hope.