(Škofja Loka, 3.2.1934-)
Dora Plestenjak is a Slovenian academic painter who comes from a family of talented artists. She is the wife of the late artist France Slana. She spent her youth in the area of Škofja Loka. She had fond memories of the area throughout her life and it appeared in her works several times.

In 1958, she enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana. During her studies, Dora travelled to Sweden. There, she became acquainted with numerous local artists and the artistic trends that were typical of the Scandinavian environment. She completed her academic education with Prof. Maksim Sedej, and then she moved away from strict guidelines and began to develop her own artistic expression. In her youth, the artist traveled to Paris for a few months. There, she met the former painter Zoran Mušič, who showed her around the city.
During a visit to the cultural center, the young artist became fascinated with painting with pastels, which she still uses today, in addition to oil paints, gouache and watercolors. She also worked for a while in Villach, where she portrayed children and adults. Her oeuvre includes quite a few excellent depictions of people and landscapes, with which she has established herself well among art lovers. Her artwork reveals a world that is gradually disappearing from our consciousness. It is not subordinated to the guidelines of modern society, but takes into account the tradition and values of the past. She strives to carefully record moments of the past that make us unique and separate us from the global understanding of culture. They reflect Slovenian identity. Ever since she moved to Strunjan, the characteristics of Slovenian Istria have often appeared in her works.
Dora Plestenjak also has a special love for everything old. With her work, she strives to preserve a part of the past in which our ancestors lived and created. The artist's artistic expression is characterized by a broad stroke, which often points the way towards abstraction. Her colours are not aggressive but harmonious and flow into each other. She exhibits at several solo and group exhibitions across Slovenia and Europe, and has also presented herself in Egypt. She most often exhibited together with her son Domen and other artists from Škofja Loka. Despite her advanced age, she still creates today and presents her paintings to all art lovers.
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Dora Plestenjak je slovenska akademska slikarka, ki izvira iz družine nadarjenih ustvarjalcev. Je žena pokojnega likovnega umetnika Franceta Slane. Svojo mladosti je preživela v okolici Škofje Loke. Ta ji je skozi vse življenje ostala v zelo lepem spominu in se je še večkrat pojavila v njenih delih.
Leta 1958 se je vpisala na Akademijo za likovno umetnost v Ljubljani. V času študija, se je Dora odpravila na Švedsko. Tam se je seznanila s številnimi lokalnimi umetniki in likovnimi smernicam, ki so bile značilne za skandinavsko okolje. Akademsko izobrazbo je opravila pri prof. Maksimu Sedeju, nato pa se je oddaljila od strogih smernic in pričela razvijati lasten umetnostni izraz. V mladosti je umetnica za nekaj mesecev odpravila v Pariz. Tam je spoznala nekdanjega slikarja Zorana Mušiča, ki ji je razkazal mesto.
Med obiskom kulturnega središča se je mlada umetnica navdušila nad slikanjem s pasteli, ki jih poleg oljnih barv, gvaša in akvarela uporablja še danes. Nekaj časa je delala tudi v Beljaku, kjer je portretirala otroke in odrasle. V njenem opusu najdemo kar nekaj odličnih upodobitev ljudi in krajin, s katerimi se je dobro uveljavila med ljubitelji umetnosti. V njenih umetninah se nam pred očmi razkrije svet, ki postopoma izginja iz naše zavesti. Ta ni podrejen smernicam moderne družbe ampak upošteva naslon na tradicijo in vrednote preteklosti. Prizadeva si, da skrbno beležil momente preteklosti, ki nas naredijo edinstvene in ločujejo od globalnega razumevanja kulture. V njih se zrcali slovenska identiteta. Vse odkar se je preselila v Strunjan, se v njenih delih pogosto pojavljajo značilnosti slovenske Istre.
Dora Plestenjak goji tudi posebno ljubezen do vsega starega. S svojim delom si prizadeva, da bi ohranila del preteklosti, v kateri so živeli in ustvarjali naši predniki. Za likovni izraz umetnice je značilna široka poteza, ki večkrat kaže pot proti abstrakciji. Njene barve niso agresivne ampak skladne in se prelivajo druga v drugo. Razstavlja na več samostojnih in skupinskih razstavah po Sloveniji in Evropi, predstavila pa se je tudi v Egiptu. Najpogosteje je razstavljala skupaj s sinom Domnom in drugimi škofjeloškimi umetniki. Kljub visoki starosti še danes ustvarja in se s slikami predstavlja vsem ljubiteljem umetnosti.
The text was prepared for the Porta Alpina gallery by Pia Župevec, B.Sc. art history
Besedilo je za galerijo Porta Alpina pripravila Pia Župevec, dipl. um. zgod.
SOURCES/VIRI:
Mira KALAN, Plestenjak Dora (1943-), Obrazi slovenskih pokrajin, Kranj, 2020, https://www.obrazislovenskihpokrajin.si/hu/oseba/plestenjak-dora/ (22.1.2025).
Marija ŠELEK, Dora Plestenjak: Zagrizel je v limono in me osvojil, Novice svet 24, 14.5.2017, https://svet24.si/clanek/zabava/5912d7fba978a/dora-plestenjak-zagrizel-je-v-limono-in-me-osvojil, (23.1.2025).
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