Zorana Unković

Zorana Unković (Split, 12 November 1988) is a visual artist, painter, and art educator based in Zagreb. After the School of Applied Arts and Design in Zagreb (graphic department), where she qualified as a graphic designer, she completed her undergraduate and graduate university studies in Visual Culture (teaching track) at the Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb. She developed her painting education in the class of Prof. Matko Vekić and in 2014 obtained her master's degree in art education. She became involved early on in the independent cultural scene and the organisation of art events (e.g. the group exhibition 'Art vikend Medika'), and further expanded her experience of working with young people through international programmes and volunteer projects in Belgium and Germany, where she led creative workshops and international collaborations. In parallel, she developed a socially engaged interest through educational and volunteer work (e.g. the Centre for Women's Studies programme, Green Action, and various collaborative research and educational activities). In her artistic practice she builds works that function like a cartography of inner states: layers of colour, texture, line, and written word merge into a visual language of signs and 'instructions', often linked to themes of mental health and self-analysis. The materiality of the surface (e.g. coarse textile structure, stitches, folds, patches) is not concealed but emphasised, as a visible trace of experience, growth, and recovery. She has been a member of HDLU since 2014, exhibits in solo and numerous group exhibitions, participates in art colonies, and realises public interventions and murals. She lives and works in Zagreb.