Senija Topcic, born in the former Yugoslavia, currently lives and works in Dublin. Her work is primarily lens based. Through her practice she seeks to present her personal world-view. She does so by drawing on her own life experiences, her individual perspective being one of fractured exploration. Her work navigates the liminal space of the ‘in- between’. Using a documentary style, Topcic aims to provoke and expose the juxtaposition of people and place, of man and environment and of order and chaos. Moving from the particular to the universal, she is attracted by stories of quotidian occurrences, taking seemingly banal situations and delving into them for another meaning. 1
Projects
- Decency (Year) (Listed chronologically)
‘Decency’ is an exhibition of four selected photographs from a series of images taken by Senija Topcic relating to the Nigerian community in Ireland. The title of the exhibition, ‘Decency’ (borrowed from a Nigerian restaurant of the same name in Dublin) suggests a quiet respect for difference and the aspirations of the immigrant. That is, while one recalls one’s origins in the way of living in a new location, one simply wants to get on with everyday living with mutual respect.
Drawing on her own experience of migration, Topcic immerses herself in the pursuit of a diversity of images that silently and without a set ideology or commentary reflects a living community. While allowing the viewers of these images to impose their own interpretation on the images, the subject matters chosen by Topcic are telling in their own way. By concentrating on the normal activities of eating, grooming, education and religion you cannot but empathise with the subjects.2
External links & References
- “Senija Topcic, Bathing II” The Library Project https://www.thelibraryproject.ie/products/senija-topcic-bathing-ii
- “Title of page” Name of the Website http://2012.photoireland.org/?portfolio=decency
