Wiktoria
My body of work explores the journey of aging. Struggling with accepting the idea of growing old myself, I decided to depict my emotions through the detailed, stencil-based portrait titled “Woman” which became the beginning of the sequence of pieces centered around this theme.
Wanting to further portray the aging process, yet in a more celebratory way, I experimented with different techniques such as painting, digital work, ceramics, charcoal drawing and collage. It was important for me to include a part of my identity in my work which I did through using self-generated photographs of myself and my family members as I progressed with my work.
Inspired by the work of Andy Warhol, I initially worked with stencils and paint. However, upon investigating the work of Chuck Close I experimented with geometry as seen in my mosaic-inspired portraits including “Age is just a number” and “Self-portrait”. Through the portrayal of emotions and facial expressions I encourage embracing changes of our bodies rather than focusing on the unstoppable process of aging.
I followed my theme as I continued producing my next pieces, as seen in my recent ceramic sculpture titled “Antipodes”. In this pair of body-resembling sculptures I was aiming to depict the concept of the emotions that accompany signs of aging represented in the form of a physical figure. The two bodies and their contrasting textures reflect two opposite mindsets - one sorrowing over its body being wrinkly and the other one flourishing as it embraces its no longer youthful condition.
My exhibition is laid out in an L-shaped space. The placement of ‘Age is just a number’ in the middle of the wall, along with its size and bold subject, brings the audience’s attention to it, which is done purposefully as that is the main piece of my exhibition. The two colorful portraits with similar format were placed along its sides in order to balance out the space. “Faces” and “Hands” were placed on the smaller wall as they both have a thicker frame surrounding them which worked well together in an aesthetic manner. The digital piece consisting of two images was placed on a small, hidden brick wall that I chose to make use of as well, making sure the oversaturation of the pieces doesn’t overpower the exhibition. I placed the ceramics sculptures on a small plinth in the exhibition space to ensure they are not overlooked.
Faces (June, 2022)
Tyvek, Acrylic paint
60 x 140 cm
This piece is inspired by Woman. Wanting to continue illustrating the fear of growing old, I created a stencil based on a photograph of an old woman I edited in photoshop. I then used the stencils to create three copies of the photograph in three different colors to represent the different stages of aging: pain, fear and acceptance. Inspired by Warhol’s series of self-portraits I followed the theme of repetition and limited use of color in order to create an impactful yet simple piece.
