Zina Gallery

At its first participation in Spark Art Fair, Zina Gallery is proud to present a selection of new works by Hortensia Mi Kafchin, paintings on canvas and wooden panels, made in Cluj and Berlin. Establishing herself as part of the Paintbrush Factory, her practice turned away from the language of painting that dominated the earlier generations of the Cluj art scene in the 2010s, not only through the variety of mediums she employs, but also conceptually, as her allegories and dream-like compositions articulate a reality informed by both personal and non-local histories. Using a vast chromatic palette, from vibrant gradients to pastel colours, Kafchin practices a surreal, narrative figuration through the lens of many personal transitions: where east becomes west; where science becomes spirituality, where man becomes woman. Mysteries of chance and not-knowingness suspend disbelief and open gateways to alternate worlds.

Hortensia Mi Kafchin was born in 1986 in Galați, Romania, as Mihuț Boșcu Kafchin. She lives and works between Berlin and Cluj. Throughout numerous installations in museums and galleries worldwide, Kafchin immerses the viewer into her world through a broad range of artistic mediums from drawing, painting and sculpture to installations, using various materials such as ceramics, glass, metal and found objects. Her broad body of work was highlighted in solo exhibitions in Cluj, Bucharest, Stockholm, London, Los Ange­les, Paris, Budapest and New York. Kafchin has also taken part in many pres­ti­gious group exhi­bi­tions within events and institutions, such as the Prague Biennale, La Tri­ennale, the Aus­trian Museum of Applied Arts, Espace Cul­turel Louis Vuit­ton, Espace Niemeyer.

Zina Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The gallery was founded in 2020 by a group of artists based between Cluj-Napoca and Berlin and represents emerging artists and invites shows by independent curators, with the aim to provide long-term support for the Romanian and Central-Eastern European contemporary art scene.