Putzmalerei

I am a female, a student, and an immigrant to Austria. I come from a so called "third country." As such, I am confronted with massive bureaucratic limitations when trying to obtain a residency permit and access to the Austrian labor market. Despite my "over education," I finally managed to find a typical job for a Serbian female, as a cleaning woman in an Austrian/Bosnian company.

While working (as a substitute) in this enterprise I get to experience of the trained cleaning staff while simultaneously adding janitorial skills to my resume.

The parallel between the gestures in my work, that as a cleaning woman and that of an artist, is an important part of my practice. It erases the split roles I have in Austrian society, as well as the division between art and real life. The gestures practiced while cleaning are the same as the movements we find in action painting. When allowing oneself to do so, working with the cleaning/painting surface and choosing a rag or a mop become the same as choosing a paintbrush and canvas.

Using personal experience which comes from the "natural everyday environment" I question economic, social, and political postulates of the Austrian labor market as well as the hierarchical system, especially in relation to the Serbian minority and gender roles. For me cleaning is a political act.