Days of Wonder with Veronika Jelsiková
When Veronika and I met for the first time, it was during our launch at the studio; she was demure and quiet. Felt as if she wanted to just breathe in the space. We found ourselves chatting while others were looking through the beautiful collection and finding something unique between us. I later came to see that Veronika champions shelter for otherwise unimportant objects, and curiously a topic that I became intrigued about. I wanted to know more about the details that she notices in everyday life, especially as a young emerging director. It is easy to be swept up in a saturated world, but quickly it became clear that Veronika's world is a multilayer of senses; they don't necessarily always make sense, but when in context, build a picture of a marvelous perspective.
"I am not a collector. I trash most of the stuff that I have no use for without any attachment. The objects that keep popping up at my place are usually by coincidence. These are things that hit me somehow personally and that define me. I usually don't buy them. They just happen to be some film set leftovers (a lot from my own shoots, so they are very "me"). I have only few things that I bought, but I simply have to have the gut feeling - it must be mine. All the objects I have are selected by my heart only, and usually, they have meaning only to me."
On my visit to her apartment in Zizkov, Veronika chats about her approach to work-life balance, to unwind she likes to join dots in drawing books, as a way to switch off or as she explains: "I am recently trying to learn that work is not everything. It is hard. I sort of dived into it. I love what I do, honestly. I just love to keep evolving, learning new stuff, and finding a way through what might be the perfect fit for me.
The dots help me distract myself from many work thoughts and my "to-do list." They help me to either switch of thinking part of my brain entirely or turn on the other one, that allows me to focus on myself and my own doing and creating."
This new approach has also harnessed her curiosity about plants: "My obsession with them. It started lately - I had and honestly have no idea how to keep them alive. I feel the fact we have been all locked inside for the past year put a big pillow on my lungs. And it helps me to breathe, just knowing I have more life right under my nose. I keep checking on them every day. Since I am at work all the time and everything is closed they kinda substitute my friends."
Her recent work is a short film she shot during lockdown with her grandparents at a nursing home. A colourful homage to her respect and power of the elderly and their wisdom.
"First, I would start with my respect for them. I find them fascinating, including the fact, that they are at the end and mostly in peace. I wish for the same. My grandpa is writing his memoir, so I have been transcribing it - it is so WOW. Lots of tear moments for me, of course, but it is full of life. Complications, struggles, and hard times. I respect that so much and wonder what our stories will be during this digital era and artificial viruses. Also, I admire the cuteness, how they are slowly returning back to their "child" phase. They gain back their innocence, and everything around them becomes much positive. That is why I write a lot of stories with them being heroes - you can be positive and serious at the same time and spread joy."
Text and Photos: Yasmin K Hejduk
Featuring: Marianne in Green from Recollections