Peek into a world of online voyeurs with Polish artist Paola Ciarska
Image: Paola Ciarska
Image: Paola Ciarska
Image: Paola Ciarska
Image: Paola Ciarska
Image: Paola Ciarska
Image: Paola Ciarska
Image: Paola Ciarska
Image: Paola Ciarska
Image: Paola Ciarska
7 February 2018
Text
Katie Marie Davies
What does voyeurism mean in an online world that thrives on thrills and oversharing?
Polish artist Paola Ciarska, who lives and works in Newcastle, creates intricate paintings where women lounge naked in bedrooms that are not their own.
Her first solo London exhibition, Cześć, Pani Ciarska, is based around a series of tiny portraits of 21st century women. Self-assured and unashamedly sensual, each woman exudes her own air of confidence: with an ever-present phone or laptop.
The bedrooms Ciarska paints are those of her acquaintances: a go-go dancer, her partner’s parents, retired police officers, photographers and gallery directors. The rooms are highly detailed, with pot plants, toys and favourite cartoons. But the origin of the naked women is unknown; apparently they are intruders.
Ciarska is challenging the viewer to identify with her subjects, who are far more multi-faceted than their Instagram feeds might reveal.
Cześć, Pani Ciarska is showing at the IMT Gallery in London from 12 January until 11 March. For more information, click here.
