Artist's Statement: Eva Petrič

This image is from my multimedia performance We Are Like Butterflies, performed recently at the Ljubljana Festival (July 15 2025). The performance reflects on our human presence on Earth — a poetic meditation on fragility, interconnectedness, and the (in)visibility of the human condition. It reminds us of the beauty and necessity of art in public space — and eventually, on the Moon.

The performance uses as a backdrop my artwork World Embryo, also shown here in Piran, Slovenia, as We All Share the Same Air, which depicts Earth as a delicate yet structurally stable lace assemblage. Made from recycled, donated handmade lace doilies from around the world, the piece is combined with projections, sound, performance, and even scent, to evoke the so-called Overview Effect — that profound shift in perception astronauts experience when viewing Earth from space. I hope this artwork similarly helps viewers realize how interconnected everything on our planet is, how every action generates a reaction: When one thread tears, all the threads resonate, and the pattern readjusts; changes.

Also taken during We Are Like Butterflies, and featured in my video clips from the performance Eden, Retransplanted, this image shows my work I Have No Borders to Declare. It depicts Earth and its continents covered in overlapping shadows — evoking human traces that shift, move, appear, and disappear. They represent our impact — both beautiful and destructive — on the only planet we have. The spoken text “I See” from the Moon Bound artefact is also performed in these video clips.

Awarded the Utazu Biennale Prize, Japan 2025, this work shows Earth evolving in three phases as seen from the Moon — its cycle intertwined with lunar rhythms. Whether we accept it or not, Earth is bound to the Moon. The piece also reflects on environmental destruction through satellite imagery of deforestation in Borneo, rendered in a “bleeding” visual language.