For several years now, my eyes have been (un)intentionally following Tinka Leskovšek's illustrations. I have observed how her line is changing, how it is turning softer, yet more piercing. I have considered her choice of colours, their meanings and shades. I have also considered what it is that determines her choice, and, eventually, my perception.

It is impossible to disregard the context, to separate the work from the artist: her growing up on Istrian soil, having relatives in the region of Štajerska; working in the field performing arts. She spent longer periods of time in Portugal, Spain and lastly in Italy. She is fluent in all the three languages and likes to form social ties to bridge cultural differences. She keeps returning to Istrian and Dalmatian shores. Sometimes the only thing she takes with her is a tomato from Šentjane, which she salts using sea water and bites like an apple.

When I first met her, I perceived her great curiosity, childlike playfulness, the need for social contact, as well as the presence of an older eye that observes from afar and sees more. Our communication embraced directions and layers that, to me, were of unprecedented range. She got me. Soon we laugh and cry together.

The series Hair, which Tinka is showing in the Street Gallery, is only a step away from animal illustrations which she has been focusing on recently. She has been developing her feel for texture and detail – including details of animal furs – using the thinnest brushes she could find across the border in Trieste. The triptych in front of us thus embraces a wide range of ideas, concepts and antipodes; intimate, bare, birth – passing, longing, object – subject. On an empty background providing the space for emptiness.

For a juicy bite into the sweetness of the edges.

—Petra Radoja, curator