Mladen Ivancic in interview to Nino Soric:
At the beginning it was just a game, enjoying the act of creation. There was the need to create something material, tangible, special and beautiful. Dust and water, air and fire–the ancient elements. The pliancy in your hands. That’s why it is clay.
With the passing of time you begin to think of making the game into the existence. The number of the pieces and multiplication. It does not go beyond the thought, but still it imperceptibly builds in the breaks and the restraints, and it slowly lessens the pleasure of creation. The craftsmanship and having control over the material does augment, but you realize that the complete gratification will be restored only when each subject accomplishes its own full identity. For this reason my “receptacles”, although the fruit of years spent working with clay, were created in the last year and a half.
The cycle of works that I am presenting is about objects that cannot be reduced to the imitating or stylizing patterns of just one source of inspiration-there is the anatomy of plants, animals and people, objects found as industrial waste: it is the search for matrices which make the connection.
I approach my work intuitively trying to shape that which is almost invisible on the object-thus providing it with the mere notion of a possible purpose. I sometimes make use of the sketches, but the final product is never given shape at the beginning.
The sketches are just rough guidelines. Each new step stimulates the subsequent one, but the path is not clearly set.
Through the interactivity of work, the examination of what has been achieved and further reflexion and feeling, the vision makes headway and approaches its end, yet remaining always open. This “step by step” growth sometimes brings excesses that have a closing effect on the object, without leaving room for conceivement and associations. Then the pruning, damaging,
taking away phase begins. It is probably the most difficult creative phase, almost unnatural, but the associative paths
need to stay open. The impression of rejection and rediscovery, of decay in time is extremely important to me… and time makes its due. Thus I might call my exhibited objects a possible, parallel archeology.