Katarzyna Czarniawska

charny.art@gmail.com Instagram

A Movement Within the Frozen

I am a Polish female artist who works primarily in print format. Using female statues as my main subject, my works feature them without ever exhibiting the ‘real’ object. We never see the ‘real’ female figure, only a dilution of the original. Print and digital process allows the ancient statues to resurface and gain another meaning in the 21th century. My work is exhibited in every format but the traditional stoic statue, which is more digestible for the fast paced digital world we live in.

The layers of deterioration in the subject are mimicked in the distortion and editing of the prints. They are fragments of the original statue, the prints speak as much for the objects as they do for the female itself. The colour polished off, leaving nothing but a Victorian whitewashed edit of the intended vibrancy, the pigmentation is brought back in the prints.

The video work is a montage of footage from the many strikes that occurred before and after The Constitutional Tribunal of Poland, mainly consisting of judges who were appointed by the ruling party, tightened the law on abortion in Poland. Protesting quietly, privately or in unison with others. The law was passed unconstitutionally and will ban women from even having prenatal examinations.

The chosen fabric in the installation is most often associated with more feminine clothing used for blouses, dresses etc. the installation consists of said fabric draped over a hanger, with a household tray containing various commonly found items from a home environment.

My position as a Polish female artist, being bombarded with the suppression of female rights in Poland, my upbringing and surroundings have an important influence on my work. The use of a statue, a public monument an object accessible to everyone yet tangible to none, mimics the comedic idea that a women’s body is her own. The statue frozen in time like the womens rights that have been similarly controlled or even backtracked in Poland. The woman’s rights to her body, what happens to it, ripped away from her, she is at the mercy of whatever laws are placed on her body. The prints are a protest, highlighting the female figure a counter action to the injustice.