"The trunk-torso of the tree (3 m high and 60 cm across) has its own particular history. As opposed to the use of stones (my usual material), which are fragments of rock, or earth, the trunk is part of a living nature. This was the basis for my concept – an attempt to return life to the severed branches. Sort of like grafting (without the graft) and an impetus for regeneration. The trunk was placed in front of the convent entrance – the border between the park, an area where living trees are still growing, and the building of the convent, where the trees were transformed into logs and beams. My trunk is placed halfway between the park and the convent: the splits on the buds can be the promise of regeneration."

Pavel Opočenský, 1993

Pavel Opočenský (born August 7, 1954) is a Czech sculptor, living and working in Prague. He studied at the Secondary Art School, Jablonec nad Nisou (jewelry, 1972) and Secondary Art School, Turnov (metal and stone processing, 1974). In 1979 he emigrated to Germany, two years later to the US. In 1990, he returned to Bohemia and, besides jewelry, began to create stone sculptures. He is mainly oriented on hard stones (syenite, granite, basalt). In his work he uses modern stone processing technology - e.g. diamond wheel grinding. In the aftermath of his return from emigration, he created a series of steels mainly from syenite. Reminiscent of ancient menhirs, Opočenský always deliberately left his stones untitled. For the first time, he used his technique inspired by jewelry techniques and entered the history of Czech sculpture as a distinct sculptor whose handwriting can be seen at first glance. In the year 2014, Pavel Opočenský began composing drawings. He builds precise depth compositions, which he then converts as a spatial illusion into two paper sizes by pencil or colored crayons.