Secret self-portraits in window frames:
In her cinematically staged portraits, the multi-award winning Polish-Italian artist plays with intimacy and distance. Discrete moments – captivated by an invisible observer. Diana Sosnowska…
In her cinematically staged portraits, the multi-award winning Polish-Italian artist plays with intimacy and distance. Discrete moments – captivated by an invisible observer. Diana Sosnowska creates pieces that allow the viewer to catch covert glimpses of private moments – while still keeping up an intriguing gap between viewer and the object of observation: Whether separated by windowpanes or door frames, or through the absence of the model facing away: the viewer never tires of looking at the piece as their gaze can never get too close and the intensity of the scene is everlastingly maintained.
Creating solely self-portraits, the artist originates paradox works of art as they appear rather as voyeuristic glimpses from the outside than self-displays. She deliberately surrenders herself to the unnoticed gaze of the viewer. Her pieces freeze fleeting glances of the eye. They are radiant with secrecy as every look feels like the last one you allow yourself before the suspense becomes unbearable.
Her photographs are surrounded by an ambiguous atmosphere, marked by soft light and nostalgic colors reminiscent of the ambiance of the 1950’s on the verge of unease, streaked by a calm before the storm: cinematic images that tell gripping stories before they unfold and thrilling narratives that are left to the imagination of the viewer.
In her works, the studied photographer and visual artist addresses feminist issues comparable to Cindy Sherman’s motifs. Diana Sosnowska explores the role of the woman in society by slipping into various female roles in different costumes. She subtly combines significant subjects. Another Weeping Woman is based on a diligent analysis of heroines in Euripides’ Greek tragedy encountering reality through pain, set in locations from Italy to Spain to Scotland through to Florida. The artist’s exhibition spots are equally international, from UK to France, Italy, and Hungary through to USA.
Her pieces are imbued with the character of iconic film stills: With a touch of David Lynch’s theatricality, they evoke associations with Crewdson’s suburban scenes influenced by masters of cinema like Stephen Spielberg and Alfred Hitchcock. She aligns herself with the tradition of raising questions rather than generating answers and providing enigmatic elements creating a tension that makes it impossible to tear one’s eyes away.
VITA
2015 High School Diploma in Classical Studies
2018 Debut Gallery Exhibition in Edinburgh, UK
2019 Bachelor of Arts in Photography at the Grays School of Art in Scotland
2023 Currently a Masters student at the University of South Florida
Exhibitions
2018 Exposed18 - Our of the Blue Drill, 26 Dalmeny Street, Edinburgh, UK
2019 FREERANGE - Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, London, UK
Unsigned - Battle Bogle Hegarty, 60 Kingly Street, London, UK
Cream19 - CraneKalman, 132, New Church Road, Brighton, UK
About Diana SosnowskaSecret self-portraits in window frames: In her cinematically staged portraits, the multi-award winning Polish-Italian artist plays with intimacy and distance. Discrete moments – captivated by an invisible observer. Diana Sosnowska…