Agnes Wolkowicz

Lives and works in Cologne, Germany

Artist statement

I ask questions. Sometimes I find an answer, sometimes I do not. And even the answers I do find are open for interpretation. Open-ended. Recently, I started to explore the idea of a meaningful life. What does it mean to live a meaningful life? Whom does one live one's life for? In a combination of acrylic and oil paint drawings I examine the relation between experiences, ideals, and phantasies regarding the meaning and value of life through the distorted lens of the dream. The previous series of mixed media drawings and prints that I started in 2019 (currently on pause) show work on the theory of power and the notion of "being human" according to Judith Butlers's subject concept. They are shaped by media images of international refugee crises and their social responses/reactions. Individual works have been exhibited in Germany and Serbia in 2020. My largest series to date is the "The Disappearnace of an Identity" series from 2015 - 2018 that was submitted as part of my Doctoral thesis of the same name in 2018. It was inspired by performance studies, the theories of Jacques Derrida, and the depiction of death in Any Warhol's work in a visual attempt to depict disembodied identities. For this I developed two techniques, liquid Indian ink for printmaking and Hper-transparent texturing. The work was presented at Kwanhoon Gallery in Seoul (South Korea) in Spring 2018.

Artwork