JULIJA BRAJNIK VOLČIČ: A BITE IS ALSO A TOUCH |

Ex-tempore Piran 2025: Young Artist Award |

Herman Pečarič Gallery, Piran, 28 August – 8 November 2026,
Opening: Friday, 28 August 2026, at 7 p.m. |

Curator: Ana Papež.

Last year, the international expert jury of Ex-tempore Piran 2025, composed of Stephanie Peršić (Croatia), Renzo Grigolon (Italy) and Jadranka Plut (Slovenia), awarded the acquisition prize for the best work by an artist aged 35 or under to Julija Brajnik Volčič (Slovenia) for the painting entitled Powerless. The prize takes the form of a solo exhibition at the Herman Pečarič Gallery in Piran, serving as an introduction to Ex-tempore Piran 2026, and is awarded by Piran Coastal Galleries.

The jury provided the following statement on the award-winning work:

In the time in which we live, we no longer have clear directions; contradictions arise, and things that were once considered safe are now being called into question. The symbol of this fear and uncertainty is depicted in the foreground by two dogs tied to a streetlamp, lying in wait for the viewer. The viewer is thus placed in the role of potential prey. A sense of confinement and powerlessness is also clearly conveyed through the contrast between the activity in the background, which depicts everyday routine, and the primal danger silently lurking before us.

In Julija Brajnik Volčič’s subsequent artistic practice, the viewer also encounters feelings of fear, powerlessness, anger and inner tension, which form the central thematic point of departure for her oeuvre. Her painting practice stems from an intimate exploration of her own experience and focuses on the body as a bearer of memory, pain and vulnerability. In her works, the body is not merely a physical image, but a space in which traumatic experiences, repressed emotions and personal history are inscribed.

Autobiographical elements predominate in her paintings. Rather than presenting them directly, the artist translates them into a symbolic visual language. Individual works function as visual narratives through which she reveals those layers of human experience that often remain unspoken or hidden from the gaze of others. Motifs of dogs, horses, female nudes and motor vehicles therefore appear not merely as recognisable figurative elements, but as carriers of psychological meaning. Although dogs, horses and motorcycles are traditionally associated with strength, freedom, vitality and control, in Julija Brajnik Volčič’s paintings they acquire an entirely different symbolic dimension. They become metaphors for feminine anger, fear, self-sabotage, entrapment and powerlessness. It is precisely this gap between a motif’s expected symbolic meaning and its actual emotional charge that creates the pronounced tension characterising the entire oeuvre.

The motif of bound women represents the artist’s experience of powerlessness, frustration and emotional pain. It is not merely a personal experience, but also reflects the broader situation of many women who, because of emotional, financial or violent circumstances, are trapped in relationships and situations from which they can see no way out.

At the same time, the motif draws attention to the consequences of trauma and prolonged exposure to violence or manipulation, which may lead to low self-esteem, self-sabotage and the reinforcement of negative beliefs about oneself. The bound women are therefore a symbol of inner experience, while also suggesting that the source of trauma and distress always lies in external circumstances—a woman cannot bind herself.

Physical deformities, injuries, scars and other apparent ‘imperfections’ frequently appear in the paintings, further emphasising the physical and psychological dimensions of pain. These are intensely charged, almost aggressive images, which the artist nevertheless balances with an exceptionally subtle painterly approach. A restrained palette, soft transitions between areas of colour, calm brushstrokes and a refined use of skin tones create a striking contrast between the subject matter and its visual representation. It is precisely this contrast that gives her works their particular power: violent motifs are not rendered expressively or brutally, but almost silently and with restraint.

Skin colour has an important symbolic function in her painting. Through it, the artist connects different motifs into a shared bodily experience and brings them closer to the human body as a site of memory. The body becomes an archive of experiences in which both physical and psychological traces of the past remain inscribed. The palette is mostly neutral, restrained and lacking strong colour saturation, allowing the viewer to focus primarily on the psychological content of the images. In this way, the artist also aestheticises her motifs to a certain degree, as she seeks to keep the viewer engaged with the artwork even though its directness may provoke aversion or discomfort.

They function as momentary manifestations of memories summoned by the brain at unexpected moments. In this way, I create an additional sense of unease when viewing the works.

‘Irregular’ formats, compositions and fragmentations are also an important element of her artistic expression. The elements do not follow classical compositional rules, balanced perspective or harmonious spatial logic. Instead, they function as fragmented flashes of memory—like a repressed memory that suddenly surfaces, disconnected and without a clear chronological sequence. This places the viewer in a position where they must assemble the meaning of the individual images themselves, while continually confronting feelings of uncertainty, discomfort and psychological tension.

Julija Brajnik Volčič’s oeuvre is thus based on a subtle balance between beauty and violence, aestheticisation and brutality, intimate confession and universal human experience. Her paintings do not offer unambiguous answers, but open up a space for reflection on the body as a bearer of memory, on trauma and identity, and on the mechanisms through which an individual processes pain.

Julija Brajnik Volčič, born in Kranj in 2002, began developing her painting practice upon enrolling in the undergraduate painting programme at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana. This year, she completed her third year and established a distinctive painterly expression rooted in the inner experience and re-experiencing of memories, traumas, emotions and events.

To date, she has exhibited in several prominent gallery spaces, including Bažato Gallery, Škuc Gallery, Ex-Arte and Ljubljana Town Hall. She is also a co-founder of the CHICANDEUROPEAN collective, which she and her classmates established during their second year at the Academy.

Written by: Ana Papež.