Mgr. Zdenka Cíbiková
lives and creates in Pruské, Slovakia. In her artistic practice, she focuses on acrylic and oil painting as well as ceramics. Her work, partly abstract and partly figurative, emerges from exploring the symbolism of colors, color composition, and the observation of nature. It forms a mosaic of expressions where impasto painting meets structures, plasticity, and composition. In her works, one can find assertive brushstrokes that elegantly intertwine with gestural color lines, creating dynamic movements and relationships. In addition to palette knives and brushes, she often paints directly with her fingers or even a spoon, which she compares to an art-therapeutic process. The layering and plasticity of her paintings are achieved with various media such as transparent gels and structural pastes, which add another dimension to the work.In some pieces, she experiments with connecting visual, gustatory, and olfactory senses, inviting viewers to “savor” the canvases as if they were a visual menu.Another recurring theme in her work is suggestive portraits of animals, which she transforms and merges with her own gestural style. She searches for new forms of expression through color play, hidden accidents, and emotional statements. Looking into the eyes of her models, the viewer gains the personified impression that the animal on the canvas is “just human too.” Her works thus become a bridge between the artist’s inner world and the viewer’s perception. Zdenka Cíbiková began her artistic journey at the Secondary School of Applied Arts in Uherské Hradiště under the mentorship of academic painter Jan Hanáček, where she focused on applied and promotional graphics. Her artistic and pedagogical orientation was later shaped by studies at Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, under the guidance of academic sculptor Jaroslav Gubric and Associate Professor Miroslav Nicz. Today, as an art teacher, she not only shares her art through her own creations but also educates young artists at the Ilava School of Arts and the H. Gavlovič Elementary School in Pruské. She participates in numerous exhibitions and symposiums, and her works can be found in private collections both at home and abroad.