Artist Statement:
With my art I am trying to observe the world from the perspectives of which we, humans, through our cultural biases disregard, find them unimportant, or are not aware. Coming from a country torn by a civil war, and later working in Afghanistan as a contractor, the instances of human traits, i.e., destructions, wars, made profound influence on who I am as a human being as well as an artist. For that reason I want to revisit these memories but not as a direct description of the destruction wars leave behind, rather as a reflection of relations, or contradictions between perceived fragility of human flesh in relation to materials associated with strength and endurance, i.e., stones, concrete blocks, bunkers and or sandbags.

The Concrete - In order to protect the personnel living and working at the Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan from the frequent 'incomings,' the phrase used to describe rockets or mortar attacks coming from the outside of the base, there were concrete bunkers installed throughout the base covered with sandbags so to minimize the possible direct rocket impact. Also, the working and or living quarters have been surrounded with tall concrete walls, so called T-Walls. The biomorphic yet architectural structure of sandbags always would leave me mesmerized by its paradox.

These objects, T-Walls, and bunkers are cumbersome, heavy, and cold. They are mainly made from concrete, the most prevalent material in our contemporary inhabitant. One can simply recall the large corporate structures that define each downtown of the contemporary USA, or even the contemporary museums, i.e., Fort Worth and or Saint Louis Contemporary were built of huge concrete chunks. Along these markers the sandbags depicted in large industrial mash banner prints or as physical objects in installations are the ones I and my coworkers had been installing around these bunkers and or T-Walls.

The location of silkscreened sandbags in the installation, at the bottom of structures, is a strategic construct. Doing so, I wanted to address the lowest strata these people, the workers, occupied in these living social structures known as military bases. As one can see the only way the wooden installation could be stable is if it were supported by the sandbags. These sandbags have silkscreened images of the workers who carried quietly the everyday activities not seen by many, yet of an undeniable importance for orderly conducts of everyday business on the base.

Endurance - Fragility yet endurance of human body and at the same time the endurance of the human spirit in the face of destruction caused by wars have been addressed and explored in my new body of work ever since I have returned from Afghanistan. Through juxtaposing the flesh in the form of human body backgrounded by concrete T-Wall installed so to protect the very same human body not to be shred apart by the explosion caused by rockets, mortars, and or their shrapnel I am asking what is stronger, the concrete or flesh, the air pressure of an exploded rocket or human spirit.

Portraiture of Afghani people – Formal vocabulary of visual art, i.e., portraiture, which as such throughout the history has been used to depict the kings, royals and wealthy and doing so enshrine them into the pillars of history was utilized so to portrait the ordinary everyday people, the workers, the manual labor who are considered the lowest chain in a corporate world, and maybe doing so enshrine them into the pillars of history as well. After my return home I decided to transfer these drawings using etching intaglio technology or to silkscreen the photography of them onto military grade sandbags.

Artist Bio:
With art Goran is trying to observe the world from the perspectives of which humans, through cultural biases disregard, find them unimportant, or are not aware. Coming from a country torn by a civil war, and later working in Afghanistan as a contractor, the instances of human traits, i.e., destructions, wars, made profound influence on who Goran Maric is as a human being as well as an artist. For that reason, he want to revisit these memories but not as a direct description of the destruction wars leave behind, rather as a reflection of possible healings.

Came to the USA as a refuge in February of 1997.
In 2006 graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with BFA in Printmaking and Drawing, Magna Cum Laude.
In 2009 graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with MFA in Visual Art, Graduate Fellowship.
In 2012 left for Afghanistan where spent 3 and a half years working as a contractor so to pay student loans. Acquired friendships never to be forgotten. Returned home in 2016.
The again left for Afghanistan in the same role in 2018 and returned home in February of 2019.
​Ever since have been working tirelessly to push his work forward reflecting the traces of reminisces of his experience.