Red Boat, 2023 by Anna Novakov

Red Boat, 2023

Anna Novakov

Red Boat, 2023

Scented Hand needlework

Drawing on my Serbian heritage and a lineage of women embroiderers and seamstresses, I use these ancestral crafts as both material and metaphor, weaving together the personal and the collective. My art serves as a bridge between generations, honoring the quiet labor of my foremothers while reimagining these practices within contemporary contexts. Scent, often considered an invisible yet potent trigger of memory, amplifies my work's sensory impact, evoking feelings of nostalgia and connection to my cultural roots. In my installations, the viewer encounters a dialogue between the tangible and the intangible, a space where the fragility of fabric mirrors the fleeting nature of scent, and where the act of stitching becomes a meditative ritual of reflection and creation. Through this synthesis of craft and concept, I reclaim traditionally undervalued "women's work," elevating it to a form of storytelling that transcends time and geography, while making visible the invisible threads of heritage and identity.

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From Anna Novakov

Scents for Forgotten Countries, 2022

Glass test tubes, cork stoppers, stainless steel rack, scents

9.5 x 4.5 x 3 inches
Holding Pattern Series, 2022

Encaustic and paper on wood

8 x 8 inches
Red Tram, 2023

Scented Hand needlework
Striped Shirt, 2023

Scented Hand needlework
White Fiat, 2023

Scented Hand needlework
Like a Bee, 2024

Neon
Private Diaspora, 2023

tufted wool
Trailing Belgrade Installation, 2020

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Additional Artworks

Scents for Forgotten Countries, 2022

Holding Pattern Series, 2022

Red Tram, 2023

Striped Shirt, 2023

White Fiat, 2023

Like a Bee, 2024

Private Diaspora, 2023

Trailing Belgrade Installation, 2020