The Art of Slowing Down

In the quiet rhythms of Water Valley, artist Zoran Crnkovic finds new movement, balance and meaning in his work.

Written by Lena Anderson  | Photographed by Joe Worthem

Born and raised in Croatia, Zoran Crnkovic moved to New York City in his 20s, chasing the possibilities of art and big-city life. For decades, he lived and worked there, teaching, painting and maintaining a waterfront studio in Long Island City. So, when he first came to Water

Valley, it wasn’t with the intention of staying.

“I came for a visit,” he said, “but suddenly I realized — I was breathing differently.”

What began as a temporary change of pace gradually became a new way of living. The contrast to New York was striking: where the city’s energy demanded momentum, Water Valley invited reflection. Long walks, open skies and the slower rhythm of small-town life began to shape both his work and his thinking about movement and stillness.

Crnkovic was introduced to Water Valley through longtime friend Karen Person, a native of the town who met him years ago in New York and has followed his work for more than two decades. Now back in her hometown, Person helped to curate his current exhibit “A Metaphysical Journey of Color and Line” at Lamar Block, a newly revitalized historic space just off Water Valley’s Main Street.

“To be able to bring this level of art back to my hometown is surreal,” Person said.

While growing up in Croatia, Crnkovic imagined Mississippi as almost mythical.

“I read about Mark Twain, the Mississippi River, all these stories that gave the place a kind of legendary identity,” he said. “Even abroad, everyone knows about Mississippi. It has a strong presence. It’s similar to New York that way — both are places people recognize instantly, though for very different reasons.”

The slowing down Crnkovic has experienced in Mississippi — of body, mind and pace — has found its way into his recent work. His newest exhibit, a collection of paintings and mixed-media pieces shown at Lamar Block, feels both expansive and inward-looking, shaped by the tension between motion and stillness, journey and rest.

Flags

“Flags” is a series that grew out of Crnkovic’s fascination with symbols, identity and belonging. Having lived across countries and cultures, he found himself drawn to the idea of flags as both unifying and dividing forces.

“These symbols carry so much,” he said. “They’re supposed to represent who we are, but they can also separate us. I was interested in what happens when you strip them down — when color and form become more emotional than political.”

Rendered in bold fields of color and layered textures, the “Flags” paintings weren’t literal depictions but reinterpretations — abstract meditations on shared humanity. In their fractured geometry and shifting hues, Crnkovic explored the tension between individuality and collective identity, between personal history and the broader human experience.

Labyrinths

In his “Labyrinths” series, Crnkovic turns inward. Where earlier works explored collective identity and the outer structures of the world, “Labyrinths” focuses on the inner journey: the paths we each take through uncertainty, longing and self-discovery.

“It’s a meditation on movement,” he said. “On how we find our way through what feels complicated or endless. Every turn, every pause, every dead end — there’s meaning in all of it.”

Built through layers of texture and subtle shifts of tone, the works evoke both physical and psychological space. Some suggest architectural blueprints or topographic maps, while others dissolve into near-pure abstraction, where light and shadow pulse with quiet rhythm.

At the heart of each piece lies an unbroken line, sometimes coiling inward, sometimes expanding outward.

“You can grow in different shapes,” Crnkovic said. “But it’s always that unbroken line that goes from the beginning into the center, or from the center going out. It’s a metaphor for our experience with everything, and especially with life itself — this hope that we’ll end up somewhere well.”

For Crnkovic, the labyrinth is not a trap but a mirror, an image of the human experience where direction is uncertain, yet movement remains essential. The series unites his enduring interests in art, philosophy, and meditation, inviting viewers to slow down, trace the line and consider their own passage through the maze.

Cityscapes

In “Cityscapes,” Crnkovic turned his attention to the built environment, translating skyline and structure into reflections on time and transformation. Abstract silhouettes and vast open skies convey both the beauty and vulnerability of human creation. The series grew out of his experience living in New York during 9/11, a period that reshaped his sense of scale and permanence.

“That view stayed with me — the skyline I knew so well, suddenly altered,” Crnkovic said.

“There were familiar buildings, but also empty spaces where something essential was missing.

It made me think about presence and absence, about what’s here and what’s not, and how fragile that balance is.”

In many of these works, the city appears small against the expanse of sky or sea. The human-made world seems delicate compared to the permanence of nature.

“The harbor remained — the same harbor it’s always been — but what we build within it is temporary, easily erased,” he said.

“Cityscapes” became a meditation on impermanence: on what we try to make lasting, and how it inevitably fades.

Textured Bravada

Crnkovic’s exploration of visual language deepened in “Textured Bravada,” a series that examines the shared codes humans create to connect and distinguish themselves. Drawing from ancient scripts and symbols, including the old Croatian Glagolitic alphabet, the works merge abstraction with philosophical inquiry.

“They’re abstract, but rooted in philosophical ideas — especially from Neoplatonism, where numbers, geometry, and harmony represent universal principles,” Crnkovic said.

Meditations

The “Meditations” series distills Crnkovic’s practice to its most essential elements. Movement and hue take center stage, each composition balancing spontaneity and control.

“It’s about rhythm,” he said. “The conversation between line and color, how one influences the other until they almost become sound.”

The work also reflects his belief in the subjectivity of perception.

“When I taught figure drawing at the Salmagundi Art Club in New York, I used to show students how ten people could look at the same model and all produce something different,” he said. “That difference — how we each see — has always fascinated me. It reveals so much about subjectivity, perception, and even truth.”

About the Artist: Zoran Crnkovic

Born in Croatia, Zoran Crnkovic grew up surrounded by art, design and craftsmanship.

Guided by a creative father who was part engineer and part artist and inspired by two uncles — one a celebrated Croatian actor and watercolorist, the other a multitalented artist in Australia — he began drawing, painting and sculpting early in life. Though he initially studied music and physics, art ultimately prevailed.

After hosting several solo shows in Croatia, Crnkovic moved to New York City in the 1990s.

He studied at the Art Students League and was accepted into the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Copyist Program, where he deepened his understanding of Baroque painting, particularly the dramatic realism of Caravaggio. He later joined a community of artists in Long Island City, Queens, cofounding “The Space” collective and working for a decade from the legendary Crane Street Studios — also known as 5Pointz — before the building was lost to redevelopment.

Also a longtime practitioner and teacher of tai chi, Crnkovic found parallels between the meditative discipline and the process of painting. “Tai chi is about awareness,” he said.

“About how you move through space, how you respond without force. Painting can be the same. It’s about presence.”

Today, Crnkovic divides his time between New York City and Water Valley, where the slower rhythms and natural landscape have begun to shape a new phase of his work. “For a town this size, the number of artists and musicians is incredible,” he said. “In a way, it reminds me of what the Lower East Side used to be like — creative, open, experimental.”

About the Space: Lamar Block

Built in the 1870s, the historic Lamar Block anchors downtown Water Valley as part of the city’s Main Street Historic District. Once home to various shops and gathering spaces, the red-brick row has long served as a hub of community life. Now under thoughtful restoration from Water Valley natives and mother-daughter team, Mary Lu Vaughn and Meagan Backes, the building is entering a new chapter as a space for art and connection. Recent exhibits, including Crnkovic’s, bring fresh energy to its century-old walls — linking Water Valley’s rich past with its creative present.

Crnkovic’s exhibit, “A Metaphysical Journey of Color and Line,” is open through the end of the year. The gallery’s hours are Wednesday and Thursday, 2-7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.; and Sunday, 2-6 p.m. You can also join Crnkovic at Lamar Block on Saturday mornings at 9 a.m., where he leads a tai chi class. All levels welcome.