Mateja Rusak
Artist
Mateja Rusak was born in 1989 in Varaždin where she completed the elementary school and the graphic design high school. In 2013 she graduated with MA in Art Education from the Academy of Applied Arts in the class of Professor Jasna Šikanja. Since 2014 she’s been working as a fine arts and design teacher at a secondary vocational school in Varaždin. She is a member of The Croatian Association of Visual Artists in Varaždin since 2015. Her works have been exhibited at five solo shows and over 20 group shows in Croatia and abroad. For the series of photographs titled Water Game in 2012 she won Viktor Hreljanović award at the international photography show The Third Element.
The same year she received the Plate for Achievement from the University of Rijeka. She participated in 15th and 16th International Graphic Art Workshops in 2016 and 2017 on Architecture and History of the City of Celje, for which she was awarded a commendation for developing visual culture of youth. At the Winter Art Colony in Karlovac she ran an art workshop. During 2017, 2018 and 2019 she mentored the school students who won the awards at the Croatian and international art competitions in Slovenia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Romania, India, Belarus and Bulgaria.
Mateja Rusak – "Expose yourself", photograph print on canvas, 70x50cm, 2018
Mateja Rusak works in painting, graphics and photography. In the series of photographs "Expose yourself" she records the female nude as a symbol of freedom. As an outer wrapping the body protects our inside.
By listening closely to the body we learn to deal with it. Accepting own body and celebrating all its advantages and flaws we empower our identity and action.
