"This piece, originally sculpted in clay and finished in a muted palette, reflects the quiet violence of enduring — the effort to remain whole while slowly disappearing under the weight of obligation, memory, and suppressed emotion.As a sculptor and former war reporter, much of my work centers on survival and erasure — not just on battlefields, but in domestic spaces, workplaces, and within the self. I grew up in then-socialist Yugoslavia, came of age amid conflict, and now live in New York, where I translate these invisible histories into form. What It Took to Stay is one of those translations — a visual residue of what it means to persist."

- Aleksandra Scepanovic

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Published 3rd December, 2025.