ELZBIETA ZUNEK | BERLIN, GERMANY
When creating, one of the biggest questions I keep coming back to is: What truly defines us? How many versions of ourselves exist, shaped by the context we're in? A context that is not and can never be truly objective?
My work explores the way we are perceived from the outside and how subjective interpretations of our words, choices, and behaviors can be. Definitions shift over time, words take on new meanings, and every perspective is influenced by personal history, background, and bias. A recurring theme in my pieces is the weight of external judgment: how labels define or dismiss us, and the impossible, often conflicting expectations placed upon us.
I aim to capture the constant doubt, paranoia, and sense of inadequacy that come from being under public scrutiny, where everything - from appearance to actions - is judged.
The audience, in turn, becomes both juror and voyeur. My goal is to make the audience feel as if they were watching themselves being watched and scrutinized.
By repeating recurring themes and elements throughout my work, I emphasize the inevitability of events and their consequences, the cyclical nature of human behavior, and the illusion of choice - how what we believe we control has often been predetermined. As Umberto Eco put it: "Every story tells a story that has already been told."
Elzbieta "Ela" dunek is a writer and a collage artist specializing in digital, predominantly grayscale compositions. Both in her written and visual works, she aspires to create a confusing, immersive experience by exploring themes such as alienation, resentment about one's own identity, and the subjectivity of perspective, shaped by individual histories and biases. The biggest question behind her works is what makes us who we are and how many people - both heroes and villains - we are, depending on the context.
Originally a photographer, Ela's focus was never the photographed object, but rather its perception. This approach remains at the forefront in her collages too. She portrays the action and inaction, the moment of change, when we don't know yet if the result is a blessing or a curse, but it's going to define us in the eyes of others. Her favorite sources of inspiration are silent films and historical theater. She has exhibited among others in Omnibus Gallery, Chromart Art Space, and the famous Berlin Kitkat Club. Her artworks have been published in magazines such as The Adroit Journal, The Maintenant Dada, and Door is a Jar.
Testimonies, Armor, Viral Trust, 15 x 15 in., digital collage, projected // $250
Bliss, Silk, Salt, Second Breath, 15 x 15 in., digital collage, projected // $250
