An outdoor installation on the ramparts of the main exhibition building of the Severočeská galerie v Litoměřicích is presenting the work of sculptor Josefína Jonášová (*1986), a graduate of Jaroslav Róna’s studio at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague.

These works, with their poetic and expressive tone, interact with the space and the viewer as the discoverer of their hidden nuances of meaning. They combine playfulness, a dreamlike atmosphere, and a reflection on themes that resonate deeply within the human soul as well as in contemporary public space. 

In the work Relative Safety (2016), inspired by the works of W. Saroyan, W. Blake, and her personal travel experiences, Jonášová blurs the boundary between reality and illusion, the external and internal worlds, and fear and desire. Her work Axe-Sakura (2019) also draws us into a landscape of imagination and associations. The clenched axe becomes a metaphor for diverse life circumstances, in the shadow of which, amidst apparent hopelessness, the buds of new beginnings sprout. The axe itself, defying its intended purpose, becomes the bearer of this life-giving energy. 

Two new works by the artist complement her earlier pieces. White monochromatic objects come to life through the interplay of dynamic lines and surfaces. By clustering or, conversely, fragmenting shapes, they engage our spatial imagination. In the work Collision in Bloom (2026), the transformation of natural daylight lends the flower—made of origami boats—an airy quality and the illusion of movement. A reference to the beloved paper origami of childhood, as well as the image of a shifting water surface, leaves us with a sense of a fleeting moment.

The urgency of the work Pax fragilis (2026) stems from the internal tension between the harmony of the dove’s rounded curves and the radical nature of the sharp geometric break in its body. Through her stylization of the dove, the artist evokes Pablo Picasso’s famous drawing. The gesture of destroying this materialized symbol of peace and hope unsettles us, but also provokes us to reflect on our own inner values and motivations, on the creative potential and fragility of human beings and interpersonal relationships. It awakens in us a natural interest and an awareness of the need to strive for the restoration of both formal and semantic integrity.