Zuzanna Salamon

The artist - My studio practice focuses on the relationship between light and shadow, and how it can reveal the hidden poetry residing within the human form and nature. The reality of my work falls between the real and imaginary world and fuses elements from both. This creates a poetic sensibility that often feels dreamlike. The subject of my work organically originates from experiences available to every human - who we are, how we love and suffer, how we miss and how we hope. Dramatic lighting, present silence, and lack of movement dominate in my drawings, giving the impression of moments frozen in time. Through this, I try to create storytelling that attempts to connect with the viewer on an emotional level.

 

My work has a personal and diary character - in this sense, they are also a story about my life, fears and desires. Therefore, the details and symbolism that I use in my work are guided mostly by feeling and intuition. They are often based on my own experience of longing for a homeland and Slavic culture, which consists of rituals involving worshipping the elemental grandeur of nature.

 

Because of its immediacy, mark-making, and tonality, charcoal is currently my primary medium. Charcoal allows me to deeply participate in the drawing process, using my hands directly on the surface to smudge and form shapes and therefore, get involved with the subject on a very practical and personal level.